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LIVES OF THt 



PRESIDENTS 



IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 



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THE WHITE HOUSE. 



BY 



HARRIET PUTNAM 



McLOUGHLIN BROTHERS 

NEW YORK 




HE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. 



Cnpyrighl, 1903. 
Bv McT.OUGHUN liROTHERS 



CONTENTS. 



PACK 



GEORGE WASHINGTON y 

JOHN ADAMS 20 

THOMAS JEFFERSON' 26 

JAM1-:S MADISON ^ 33 

JAMES MONROE . . . . ^ 40 

JOHN QULXCY ADAMS 44 

ANDREW JACKSON 49 

MARTIN VAN BUREN 54 

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 56 

JOHN TYLER 58 

JAMES KNON POLK 61 

ZACHARY TAYLOR 65 

MILLARD FILLMORE 68 

FRANKLIN PIERCE 7' 

JAMES BUCHANAN 74 



CONTENTS. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 79 

ANDREW JOHNSON 93 

ULYSSES 5. GRANT 97 

RUTHERFORD H HAVES 108 

JAMES AbRAM GARPTELD . . . • 112 

CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR 116 

GROVER CLEVELAND . . .119 

BENJAMIN HARRISON . 123 

GROVER CLEVELAND 128 

WILLIAM McKINLEY 132 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT . 140 




GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

THE King of Eno-land, "George the Third," had made 
hard rules and had laws for those who had left his 
land and come to A-mer-i-ca. 

The folks bore these as well as they could but things 
grew worse and worse. 

At last the men said ; " We will die or be free." 

Then came a war. There were but few, at first, to fight 



6 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

a great host. The few knew their cause was just and this 
gave them great zeal. Their trust was in God. 

They met on Cam-bridge Com-mon to ask God to bless 
them and the plan they had made. God heard them, told 
them what to do, and sent one to lead them. 

The name of that lead-er was George Wash-ing-ton. 

In Virginia, Feb. 22, 1732, at Brid-ges' Creek, George 
Wash-ing-ton was born. His house had but four rooms. 
At each end, on the out side, the flue went up to the top. 
He was born at 10 A. M. 

His folks were plain in their ways. The boy's dark blue 
eyes first saw such scenes as would be found in an-y farm 
house in the land. He saw a low room ; a great, wide, 
brick fire-place ; a well kept rug ; a few chairs with straw 
seats ; and a tall bed-stead with posts like masts, the same 
sort as Wash-ing-ton slept in all his life. Hung up high 
on the walls were prints of men who had been brave on 
sea and land. Back of the door a tall clock went tick, tick, 
and this might have been the first sound the babe heard. 

The plain way in which Wash-ing-ton was bred made 
him like plain things aJl his days. His clothes were plain — 
spun, wove, and made at home. Out door life had a 
charm for him. A-mer-i-cans bless the plain old farm 
house where this child, who did so much for them, was 
born. Now all that marks its site is a slab of free-stone. 
The trees that grew near that house were figs, pines, and 
some sorts which would keep green all the year. The boy 
was fond of them. The fields and woods, too, held things 
dear to him. His young life was full of cheer. The 
words that he wrote in those days tell us so. Each word 
seems as if a boy with a bright, frank face had put it down. 



GICORCK WASIIIXGTOM. 7 

The ta-thcr of this honic bred hoy was a help to hlin. 
He taught him much h'om ncar-hy htc. A talc is told 
that one day the fa-ther made a small bed in the <^round, 
with rich earth, and then wrote on it, with his cane, George's 
full name in large size. The next thing he did was to strew 
in some seeds and smooth it all with care. When some 
da\s had gone b\', the small boy came in haste and said, 
" O, Pa, come here ! Come here ! " 

"Well, my son, what is it?" 

"O, it is a great sight! My own name grows green in 
the orround ! How could it come there?" 

They both went to 
look at the strange sight. 
At hrst the fa-ther 
thought to make his son 
think it came there by 
its self. Young as the 
boy was he knew this 
could not be so. A 
great truth was taught 
from this. 

It told that Chance 
could not be the cause 
of the great things in 
life. Chance could not 
make the moth-er sing ; 
Chance could not give 
sleep from which the 
boy would jump up 
strong as any young deer ; Chance would not make the 
sweet light which would be there to greet him. Fish in 




TELLING THE TRUTH. ( P. B. ) 



8 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

the ponds, fruit on the trees, cows to gWc milk, lambs to 
give wool to make clothes would not come by chance. 

The boy of five kept in mind that which his fa-ther had 
taught him. 

From the first George had a strong love of truth. He 
thought it mean to tell a lie. He would say true things at 
all tmies. 

I here was land near his home where fruit trees grew. 
Some trees bore well and some did not do so. Care and 
work would help all the trees and this the small boy's fa-ther 
was o;lad to o-ive. 

A tale is told that one tree w^as so choice that the fa-ther 
would walk to it day by day and watch it grow. Once he 
found a deep cut in the bark of that tree. It was cut so 
that fruit might not come to it for years. Then the fa-ther 
said, "Who has done this?" 

George knew quite well that he had done that thing with 
a small axe. He did not think it would do so much harm 
at the time, but when he found how sad his fa-ther felt, and 
saw, too, his rage at the act, he was full of pain. It is said 
that for one short bit of time he hung back in shame. 

Then he made up his mind that the right thing to do 
was to speak the truth at once. So he said, " I can not tell 
a lie. I did it." 

The tale goes on to say that the fa-ther's rage left him 
when he found that his boy could and would say what was 
true, though it brought pain with it. 

The moth-er of Wash-ing-ton was one score and eight 
)'ears old when her son was born. She had fine looks, a 
strong mind, and a kind heart. A wise man has said, 
"The strong are born of the strong and the good of the 



r.i':0R(;K \v.\siii.\(.roN. 9 

(rood." This was true in W'ash-ino-ton's case. His moth-cr 
knew him to be a line child and had great pride ui the 
wise things he chd. 
She "kept all these 
things m her heart." 

From the i)lain larm 
house George went to 
the " field school " kept 
by Mr. Hob-by. Here 
he had to learn " a, b, 
abs," as was the st\'le m 
those days. He rode 
off on his horse and 
was gone all day, for 
the school was live 
miles from home. He 
ijave time and love to 
his books, but he was 
fond, too, of play and 
sports of all kinds. He 
would drill a band of 

gjyjQll bo\'S march theni Washington's narrow escape from drowning, ip . io.) 

down the road and lead them at all times, l^olks large and 
small would like to see the brave, good child, and they 
said of him that when he grew up there was a high place 
for him in the world. It came to pass just as thev said it 
would. 

When but four years in his teens, Wash-ing-ton went to 
the home of the red men with chain and rule and found the 
length and breadth of the land. In four years more he had 
charge of troops sent to save his State from fierce In-di-ans 




iO LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

and French who would steal land. More work soon came 
and the young man had to start out and see if it were true 
that forts were to be built on the O-hi-o. 

The roads were bad and the woods were dark, but 
Wash-ing-ton, with four men and a guide who spoke 
French, went through mire and swamp, till they came to 
the fort of which they were in search. The chief of the 




MOUNT VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON. 



French troops had a long talk but he would not give up. 
He sent a note back, and with this Wash-ing-ton set out 
for home. Snow and ice were on land and stream. There 
was one bad place on the way where they had to stop and 
make a raft so that they could cross a stream. The logs 
they had to use were damp, and from these Wash-ing-ton 
made a slip which might have been the cause of his death 
if the man who vvas with him had not drawn him out from 
the cold stream. 

Wash-ing-ton did his work so well that at the end of five 
years he was at the head of the forces of his own State. 



C.KORGli WASHINGTON. 11 

In the FrL-nch wars of 1754 it was W'ash-in^-ton who 
led at Great Mead-ows, and whose brave acts made Brad- 
dock's loss far less than it 
niioht have been. 

Wash -1 ng- ton knew 
what w'as strong" and what 
was w^eak in men. He 
knew how to guide them 
and he knew how to save 
them. He could judge 
\\-ith great gootl sense. 
He had all the gifts which, 
in years to come, made the 
world call him, the " Great 
Com-mand-er. " 

In Jan-u-a-ry, 1759, 
W ash-ing-ton found a 
good w^ife in Mrs. Mar-tha 
Cus-tis, a young wid-ow, 
and went first to li\'e at 
New Kent, and then to 
Mount Vcr-non, where he had care of his farm. While 
here he kept watch of all that went on m the land for which 
he had so much love. 

Eng-land's rule grew^ more and more hard to bear. The 
laws made by the King were not just. Each thing had a 
ta.\ j)ut on it which it was hard to pay. The King did not 
ask his folks in A-mer-i-ca how he could help them. His 
chief thought was how he could treat them as slaves and 
orrind them down to do his will. 

The "Stamp Act" was a thing which made folks mad. 




MARTHA WASHINGTON 



12 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Free born men did not like it. They said they would no 
more stand it. 

One Sun-day some ships with tea on board came up the 
bay at Bos-ton. A man stood up in church and told all 
there that if they would be free, and give up the King, 
that was the time to strike the blow. Then they went to 
the ships and threw the tea all in the sea. Then the King 
sent word that no more goods should be sent to Bos-ton. 
This was mean, and the folks then knew that they had got 
to fight. 

In the spring of 1775 came the first fight at Lex-ing-ton. 
Brave things were done and men made good work for the 
Cause so near their hearts. They found that they could 
stand their ground, though the Brit-ish troops had had years 
in which to learn the art of war. 

The cry of "To arms! To arms!" was in the land. 

Then came the strife on Bun-ker Hill, where Pres-cott, 
Put-nam and more he-roes did acts and made names that 
will live. 

While there were brave men to fight, still one to lead 
them must be found. At Phil-a-del-phia, May 10, 1775, 
wqse heads chose Wash-ing-ton as chief of all the troops, 
for lie was known to be the man for the times. 

On July 3, 1775, Wash-ing-ton took com-mand of the 
" A-mer-i-can Ar-my." The place where he stood is still 
dear to all in this land. It was on the same place, "Cam- 
bridge Com-mon, Mass.," where those men met to pray and 
ask God to bless them and their plan ere they made their 
start to be free. 

The raw troops which Wash-ing-ton found were full of 
fire, zeal and love for their land, but thev had need of one 



GKORGK WASHINGTON. 13 

to train and lead them. Some folks thought it would be 
best to rush on the foe at once. That was not done. A 

wisL i)lm was found. 
The Biit-isli were kept 
close m tow n cUid just 
viadc to sta) fcU more 
months than they 




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They had 



to ask Wash-ing-ton to let 
them leave Bos-ton, which 
he was glad to do. So m 
March, 1776, they set sail 
for Hal-i-fax, and that was 
the last of them in this part of the land. 

There w^ere three places in our land where the war then 



14 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

went on. There was strife for the Hud-son, for the Del-a- 
ware, and for the Car-o-li-nas. 

Great cheer came to Wash-ing-ton and his troops when 
they heard that a move had been made in Con-gress that 
our land should say that it ''would be free from Eng-lish 
rule." This was a great act, and has the name of " The 
Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pen-dence." As it was made on 
the Fourth of Ju-ly, that day has been kept as a feast by 
us since that time. 

Dark days came as the small band fought three times 
more men than they had. The Chief sent up his call to 
his Friend on high. Fie must wait, and work, and pray. 
Those were times " to try men's souls." 

The cause was lost at Brook-lyn for want of more troops. 
Then the A-mer-i-cans fled to Har-lem, nine miles from 
New York. The Eng-lish swept up the Hud-son and took 
Fort Wash-ing-ton, which was a sad loss to Wash-ing-ton's 
ar-my. 

The Brit-ish then went to New Jer-sey, at Tren-ton, and 
Wash-ing-ton, who now had more troops, made a plan to 
cross the Del-a-ware and find them when they did not 
know it. This was a great task, for the stream was full of 
ice. 

The Brit-ish had to give up a large part of New Jer-sey 
at the close of the year, and arms and large guns fell to the 
A-mer-i-cans, who had great need of them. 

A poor camp at Val-ley Forge, when the cold, dark days 
came, in the year of 1777, was the best that Wash-ing-ton 
could then give his men. More and more strong faith had 
to fill all hearts or the cause would not be won. 

Just at the time when there was the most need of help 



GKORGl': WASHINGTON'. 15 

ct one of her best youni^- men, La-fa 



ay- 



it came. France 

ette, cross the sea and fight for our cause. This man stood 
hio-h at home. He left" all, his wife and friends, and cast 
his lot with ours. 

A-mer-i-ca will love France to the end of time for what 
she did for us in our hour of need. 




CROSSING THE DELAWARE 



The forts on the shores of the Hud-son were what the 
F.ng-lish then went to fight for. They got two of them, 
hut W^ash-ing-ton was In time to save the rest. 

A new and most sad thing came then to make poor 
Wash-ing-ton's heart bleed, and the hearts of all in the land. 

A man whose name was Ben-e-dict Ar-nold, was the 
cause of it. The Chief had put him in charge of the fort 
at West Point and the places on the line that the Brit-ish 



l(j LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

knew, and had made up their minds to get. This Ar-nold 
was not true to his trust. He sold his right to watch and 
guard our cause for a large sum of gold, and meant to give 
up all to the foe. To do this he must get word to the man 
at the head of the Eng-lish troops. A Brit-ish spy, by the 
name of An-dre, was sent, with a note, to Clin-ton. The 
spy was caught and had to go to the A-mer-i-can camp. 
He was put to death for what he had done, though Wash- 
ing-ton was sad that it must be so. 

Ben-e-dict Ar-nold, the bad man who made the start in 
this mean work, set off in haste and fled for his life to a 
Brit-ish ship which took him to Eng-land. To the end of 
his days that man had no friends. 

Next came a thinjr which made all the folks in A-mer-i- 
ca glad. With La-fay-ette, and a large force of French 
troops on land to help, and French ships of war to shut up 
the way so that the Eng-lish could not get out to sea, a big- 
fight took place at York-town, in Vir-gin-i-a, which did not 
stop for more than ten days. Then Corn-wal-lis, the man 
m charge of the foe, gave up their arms to Wash-ing-ton. 

The whole land was full of ioy at the great and good 
news. 

The war had not come to an end as soon as the folks had 
thought it would. It was fight, fight, inch by inch, from 
the time the first blood was spilt at Lex-ing-ton, in A-pril, 
1775, when the men of the land "fired the shot heard 
round the world," till Oc-to-ber, 1781. 

It took all that time for the King of Eng-land to give in. 
He did not want to do it then. This land then had a great 
and new name. It was a " Na-tion." In France, on the 
third of Sep-tem-ber, i 783, a " Trea-ty of Peace " was signed. 



(;i;oRGi': Washington. 17 

In less than three niontlis from then, the Brit-ish tr()()i)s left 
New York. We had won. 

The time came, when the war was at an end, for W'ash- 




THE BRITISH CIVE UP AT VORKTOWN— SIGNING THE TERMS 

Ing-ton to leave his troops. It was a hard thing to do. 
Tears came to his eyes. He said that each man must come 
to him and grasp his hand. 

The whole land had great pride in Wash-ing-ton and 
great love for him, too. But peace had come and home 



18 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

and rest sent a call for him. So he went to his farm at 
Mount Ver-non where he had work to do. 

Wash-ing-ton was made the first Pres-i-dent of the 
" U-ni-ted States of A-mer-i-ca," and took his place on 
April 30, 1789. This post he kept for two terms of four 
years each. He did so well that it was said of him, " He 
was the first in war, the first in peace, the first in the hearts 
of his coun-try-men." 

When Wash-ing-ton was on his way to his new place, 
the church bells rang peals of joy in all the towns which he 
went through, and young folks spread buds and blooms in 
his path. Flags and wreaths were in sight while the air 
was full of cheers and bands played tunes which made all 



glad. 



With a firm hand Wash-ing-ton stood at the helm of the 
Ship of State and was her guide through rough seas. 

There were threats of wars here and there and spite, 
rage, debts, and hard things came up from time to time, but 
the great man at the head knew just what to do. 

The A-mer-i-can flag went to far off seas. In 1790, the 
good ship Co-lum-bi-a, of Bos-ton, Capt. Gray in charge, 
took the Stars and Stripes round the world with him. 

The good work and pluck of the men of the sea in the 
cause of A-mer-i-ca, and their wish to free her from the yoke 
of Eng-land, have won high praise for them. They were 
as true as steel for the riorht. With hearts of oak and arms 
of strength they met the foe and made them their own. 
The fame of the Yan-kee tars will not die while the world 
lasts ! 

Wash-ing-ton felt great pride in the sea forces, and they 
in turn, felt pride in him and had love for him. 



Gi:ORGK WASHINGTON. 19 

All in the land had the wish that George Wash-ing-ton 
should ser\'e as Pres-i-dent for a thnxl term of four years, 
but the great man thought it best not to do so. In 1796 
he wrote his " bare-well Ad.-dress to the A-mer-i-can Peo- 
ple." 

The words there found move all hearts now, though, 
more than li\'e scores of )'ears have gone by. 

^\^ash-ing-ton ga\'e his strength and arm to save in the 
dark hours ere the dawn came. Then he lelt the time for 
rest had come to him so he went back to his home at 
Mount Ver-non. 

One day a shock came to the whole land. I he sad 
news went forth that a great man had gone. 

Wash-mg-ton was dead. 

This was in the last month of the yean 799. 

Eng-land put her flag at half-mast. Prance wore the 
black cloth of grief on her shield and staft. 

A-mer-i-ca, from north to south was full of woe for the 
loss of the man so dear to her heart, the wise, great, good, 
true, just, bra\'e, calm " Pa-ther of his country." 

With brain, aiul arm, and heart he came 
To sa\e his peo-ple from the shame 
Of Brit-ish rule. 

A. no-ble peo-ple, strong and brave. 

He res-cued from the name of slave 

To ty-rant's greed. 

Like him, the Fa-ther of this land. 
For Frec-dom may we e\-er stand, 
For God and Ri-jht. 






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JOHN ADAMS. 

AS far back as 1629, a grant of land was made to Thom-as 
Ad-ams, at a place which is now Brain-tree, in Mass- 
a-chu-setts. This man did not go there to live but Hen-ry 
Ad-ams did. 

A grand-son of Hen-ry, by the name of John, had a wife 
whose name was Boyls-ton of the near-by town of Brook- 
line. This pair gav^e the name of John to their first child. 

He was born in Brain-tree in the fall of 1735. That 
John Ad-ams was the man who took the place of George 
Wash-ing-ton, as Pres-i-dent. 

In that part of the land, in 1647, a law was made in each 
town of fif-ty homes, that the young should be taught to 
write and read. When the town was twice as large a 



JOHN ADAMS. 21 

school of hioh grade had to be set up in which Lat-in 
should be taught. 

John Ad-ams had a hne chance to know all that the 
schools taught, lie was fond, too, of games and sports. 
He could swim, skate, ride, drive, and hunt, and had much 
fun with his mates. Still, books were dear to him, and as 
soon as he could he went to Har-vard Col-lecre. 

When, in 1755, the day came for John Ad-ams to leave 
coldege, he went to W^orces-ter and taught school. 

All the land then thought of war. French and Brit-ish 
ships-of-w^ar were near the coasts. More for-ces came from 
Eng-land. A-mer-i-ca raised troops too, and with Brad- 
dock in charge, they went to the O-hi-o woods to drive out 
the French. 

John Ad-ams taught his school and was well at work 
when the dark news came that Brad-dock was dead with 
half of his men. It was said, too, that it was young Ma-jor 
Wash-ing-ton who had saved the rest. This made the 
name of Wash-ing-ton sink deep in the minds of men. 

John Ad-ams thought hard as to how he could help in 
these bad times. He knew that with him the pen would 
be of more strength than the sword. He could talk and 
write in a clear, bright wa\'. He had a fine, strong \'oice, 
and could make a good speech, and folks were glad to hear 
him, for he knew^ much of what was good for the land. 

It had been the wish of his heart that he might preach 
the W ord ol God. He would have done so if he could 
ha\-e taught the thoughts that were in his mind, but there 
were, in those days, creeds which he did not like and would 
not help the folks to learn, so he gave uj) his plan of life 
work and took up the law. 



22 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

He went to Bos-ton, where he could make the sum on 
which he might hve. He had all the law work he could 
do, for there were hard cas-es to solve. Some of these 
were of things which meant much for the weal or woe of 
this land. 

John Ad-ams was in court when James O-tis made a 
speech which dealt with the whole theme of Eng-land and 
A-mer-i-ca, and the rights of each. 

He and the crowds who heard these words, felt that it 
was a great day in their lives. It is said that the "Child 
of In-de-pcn-dence was born then and there," and that when 
" three times five years had gone by that child had grown 
to be a man and was/zr^." 

In 1764 John Ad-ams found a fine wife by the name of 
Smith, whose fa-ther's work was to preach the Word of 
God. She stood high with all. 

So bright a man as John Ad-ams could not fail to be 
known by the Brit-ish. They laid a trap for him. They 
sent a friend of his to him and had him say that they would 
give him a rich bribe if he would come to their side and 
serve them. A prompt, strong " No" went from Ad-ams 
to those who would tempt him. 

In the year 1768 Brit-ish troops were sent to Bos-ton to 
brmo; fear to the folks and make them do what Encj-land 
said they must. These for-ces were put up in the town- 
house, Fan-eu-il Hall, and had tents, too, on the Com-mon. 

John Ad-ams felt that he must stand up for the right 
and for the land, and with this high aim in mind he was 
firm to do all thing-s for the orood of the orreat Cause, 
though he and his law work must lose by it. 

There were those who said " s^rin and bear it" would be 



JOHN ADAMS. 23 

a good plan. Some did so, hut the time came at last when 
King- George the Third hurt the pride of the folks far too 
much to bear. 

A mob at Bos-ton had 
the fire of the Brit-ish on 
them in 1770, and then 
John Ad-ams knew well 
what to do. He took his 
stand to help the folks who 
were then so blmd with rage 
that they could not judge in 
a cool way. 

All knew that they could 
look to him to lead them 
and aid them in war tmie. 
He made law plain so that 
they might know what it 
was safe to do. 

Thouijh in need of what 
he could earn for his wife '~°""denceh.ll, wmercconcresssat.nph.laoelph,*. 
and the young in his home, yet, when the time came for 
him to give up all, he was prompt to do so for the good of 
his land. His wife was brave and had no fear, but said he 
was right and that she would share in all that was to come 
and place her trust in God. She kept her word, and when 
the fight was on and troops near she gave all the aid she 
could. 

With four more men John Ad-ams was sent from his 
State to Phil-a-del-phi-a, where the first Con-gress was to 
sit and form plans which were for the good of all. It is 
said that his thoughts were so clear, and his words so 




'2i LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 

Strong, that folks gave in to him at once. He would write, 
write, and send what he had to say to the press, and all 
came to know that he was a man of strength in the land. 

John Ad-ams was the first man to ask that Wash-ing-ton 
be put at the head of our troops, and he was, too, one of 
the first to help get up the Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence. 

John Ad-ams was sent to France to ask the French to 
make a law so that their ports and Eng-land's ports might 
be free for our goods. He had hard work but what he 
went for he sfot. 

Ad-ams was chief aid, or Vice-Pres-i-dent, when W'ash- 
ing-ton was made Pres-i-dent, and was with him all the 
eight years he had to serve. Then, when those years of 
help were past, the aid, him-self, was made Pres-i-dent, 
in 1796, with Jef-fer-son for the next post. 

Pres-i-dent Ad-ams kept all the aids that Wash-ing-ton 
had, though some of them did not suit him. Do w^hat he 
might it was hard to please folks when the times were so 
bad and rules so new. There were those who rose up and 
said this thing should not ])e done and that thing should not 
be done, and there was much bad talk. But John Ad-ams 
did what his head and heart told him to do. As late as 
1 8 1 5 he wrote to a friend of one thing he had done that 
made him glad and he said that if it were on his tomb-stone 
it would suit him. These are the words; 

"Here lies John Ad-ams, who took it on himself 
to make peace with France in the year 1800." 

It was the wish of John Ad-ams to serve his land well 
and he did for her the best that could be done at that time. 
When his work as Chief came to an end, w^hich it did in 



JOHN ADAMS. -25 

1801, he had then done quite e-noiigh to make one Wfc 
great. 

Death took the good wile of John Ad-ams in 18 18, and 
it was a sad loss, for she had been a great help to him for 
long years. But there were eight more years for him on 
earth, and he staul at his Ouin-cy home and read and wrote 
much of the time. One book was most dear to him, for 
it held the " Ser-mon on the Mount," which he said was 
the best code a man could have. 

When his son, John Ouin-cy Ad-ams, was made Pres- 
i-dent, in 1825, the heart of the a-ged fa-ther was glad. 
Notes of praise came to him then from far off lands. One 
was from La-fay-ette, and more were from men who, in 
times past, had not been the friends thev should have been. 

At last the end drew near. Five days ere he died, a 
man who was to speak on the Fourth of Ju-ly, went to John 
Ad-ams' house to ask that he might ha\'e a toast to gi\'e as 
from the old man's lips. 

"I will give you," said Ad-ams, " In-de-pen-dence for- 
e\-er ! " 

When the Fourth came it was known that but few hours 
were left on earth for the man who had done so much for 
this land. Ere the sun had sunk in the west,John Ad-ams, 
at the good old age of 91, had gone to his long home. 

All the land rose up to j)i"aise him then. 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

THE third Pres-i-dent of the U-ni-ted States was Thom- 
as Jef-fer-son. 

He was born at Shad-well, Vir-gin-ia, in 1743. His fa- 
ther, Pe-ter Jef-fer-son, was a great strong man, with a fine 
mind, who owned a big wheat farm. 

Thom-as was the third child and there were ten in all. 
Thom-as, like his fa-ther, had health and strength and soon 
could swim, run fast, ride all steeds, and swim them, too, 
through streams. 

The woods near by were rich in large and small game. 
Red men could be seen from time to time. 

Once the boy went to an In-di-an camp. The chief of 
the tribe was soon to go to Eng-land to talk to the King 

26 



THOMAS JI:FFHRS0X. 27 

for the good of those in his care. Wliile l1iom-as was 
there the last s])eech was made ere the chief left his home. 
The white boy could not make out the words hut he saw 
that the red man felt what he said, and made those who 
heard him know what he meant they should. 

From the time when the child hrst heard the birds sing 
In the woods he would tr\' to mock them. He had a love 
for their sweet songs and soon could make his own. His 
kind fi-ther, who saw his taste, bought him a \'i-o-lin and 
glad hours were spent with it. 

Not far from the farm house at Shad-well, was a small 
school, and here Thom-as Jef-fer-son, who one day would 
write the " Decda-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence," went, at the 
age of fi\'e. 

\\ hen the boy was nine years old he went to live with 
a wise, good man, Rev. Wm. Dougdass, who could preach 
as well as teach. Here the lad took up Lat-in, Greek, and 
French. All were good for him, but the last he had cause 
to use much in those davs to come when he must speak in 
France for the good of his own land. Though five years 
in this home, he oft saw his own folks, for Shad-well was 
near. 

One day there came a sad blow at the farm-house. The 
irood fa-ther was dead. No one thouQ^ht death would come 
so soon to a man so strong and well. Thom-as was then 
half a score and four vears old. The home farm was left 
to him. The last words of the fa-ther were that the boy 
should go on with his book work. So then he went nine 
miles off from his home to the school of Rev. James Mau- 
ry, who made him fit f)r col-lege. In two years more 
Thom-as Jef-fer-son took uj) his life at Will-iams-burg, \^a., 



28 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

in Will-iam and Ma-ry Col-lege, which had then been built 
68 years. 

At that time, though the young man knew the wood 
roads and paths well, he had not seen a town or street. 

Jef-fer-son kept his hor-ses near by, and at first he used 
to take ' 'i'l' of a few miles each day, but in a while he 

gave such long hours to his books 
that all the time he thought he could 
spare then was just a short walk or 
a brisk run at night. He had a 
strong, tough young frame, and took 
good care of it. Though he grew 
to-bac-co on his farm, still he did not 
use that weed. Folks in those da)'s, 
all through the land, drank too much, 
but Jef-fer-son said he "would not 
cloud his brain" in that way. He 
stuck to his good plan. He had 
made up his mind to climb high in the world, and he did it. 
Jef-fer-son had a five years course of law and then was 
at the Bar. He made hosts of friends and had large fees. 
He heard his friend Pat-rick Hen-ry give his great speech 
on the " Stamp Act." He stood in the door-way and saw 
the thought of A-mer-i-can In-de-pend-ence take form in 
the minds of men as the words came from his friend's 
mouth. He heard the cries of " Trea-son ! Trea-son ! " 
He heard, too, the brave re-ply; " If this be trea-son, make 
the most of it ! " 

Jef-fer-son had much to do. His law work was large. 
His farm took what he thought he could spare, but with 
all his cares his mind had a dream of a home. 




PATRICK HENRY 



THOMAS JEFFKRSOX. '29 

He chose a site at Mon-ti-cel-lo, which means Lit-tle 
JMoun-taln, near a i^reat oak where his tonil) was yet to be. 
Me made his own phin for the house m 1769. He had 
the land made clear and one wing oi the new house was 
ii|). His law books and briefs w^ere in the old farmdiouse 
at Shad-w^ell. While Thom-as Jef-fer-son and his moth-er 
had o"one to make a call at the home of a friend, a slave 
ran to tell him that their old house had caught fire and 
was quite oone. 1 he first thing Jef-fer-son said was " Did 
\()U sa\-e m\' books?" The black man said he had not 
done so but that " the Jid-dlc was safe ! " They all went, 
then, to li\e m the "wing" at Mon-ti-cel-lo. To this place, 
m two years more, when the house had grown to a fine size, 
a sw^eet bride came. 

The young pair had a cold trip. The drifts of snow 
grew so high that the young folks had to leave their chaise, 
mount the horses, and go on. At last they came to their 
hill road, wound up it, but it was quite late ere they got to 
the top. They found the house dark and all the help gone 
to their beds. But though the first night was dark and 
cold, the house w^as soon a bright one and all went well 
with the young pair. 

Fine trees were bought, with vines, shrubs, and plants 
such as could lixe m the cold months, and all the grounds 
near the house were made fair to the sight. 

A score of kith and kin soon came to live with the Jef- 
fer-sons for the rest of their lives, and friends and guests 
were there so much that a whole ox and a ton of hay 
would go in a day. 

A sweet child of their own came to bless this home the 
next }ear. The fa-ther of the young wife died then and 



:W I.IVKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

left a vast sum, \avo;e tracts of land, and two hun-dred bond 
folks, or slaves, to the young- mother and child, the two 
Mar-thas. 

I hom-as Jef-fer-son was sent to Con-o^ress and soon 




SIGNING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



came to be a great man. The " Dec-la-ra-tlon of In-de- 
pen-dence" was, for the most part, his work. This sole 
thing would have brought fame to him if that had been all 
that he did for his land. Soon he had work to do for 
his own State, and it was his strong wish that her laws and 
rules should be such as would help folks in all ways. So 



THOMAS JKFFKRSON. 31 

much did the men of Vir-gin-ia prize this work tiiat they 



Th 



th( 



made Jef-fer-son their Gov-ern-or m 1779. 1 nrouon me 
dark days of the war he held his post and oave great help 
in time of need. His hands w^ere lull ot work. He had 
to watch the men of his State who had gone to the war. 
He must, too, keep hark the red men, who might do 
harm at the vih^c ot the State. 

In 1782 the good wife ot Jet-ter-son died, d his worked 
a great change in the man. The )'oung chil-drcn then left 
to his charge were more and more dear, and all was done 
for them that could he done. 

Twice Jef-fer-son was sent to France. It was his work 
to trv to make terms of peace with Engdand and this came 
at last. 

Jef-fer-son w^as made Pres-i-dent in 1801 and had two 
terms, which made his work in 
this way end m i S09. 

While Jef-fer-son was Pres-i- 
dent, a boat to go 1)\' steam 
was huilt I)\' R()l)ert hul-ton. 
Fun was made ot it, and it was 
thought not to he of much 
worth. Soon it was found out 
that a great thing h;id been 
done, and that steam would more and more come in use. 

From a boy Jef-ter-son had seen the slaves toil at their 
tasks hours and hours each day, and he had slaves more 
than a few of his own, but still he did not like sla-ver-y, 
and when he was head of the State he tried to do all he 
could to put an end to the slave trade. The first law to 
stop it was passed 111 1807. 




THE FfRST STEAM-BOAT. 



32 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

In 1801, Jef-fer-son sent a fleet to the Med-I-ter-ra-ne-an 
Sea to try to put a stop to the acts of pi-rate ships that 
were sent out by the Bar-ba-ry States to prey on those that 
sailed near their coasts. Our brave tars had man-y fights 
with the pi-rates, and in the end whipped them so well 
that the Bar-ba-ry States were glad to make peace and 
agree not to seize A-mer-i-can ships from that on. 

In 1803 there was a chance to buy from France a vast 
tract of land which lay to the south-west of the then U-ni- 
ted States. Jef-fer-son thought it a wise thing to do, and 
it was bought for $15,000,000. It made our land more 
than twice as great in size as it had been, and out of it 
twelve states have since been formed. This is known as the 
Lou-is-i-an-a Pur-chase, and was the thing of most weight 
that took place while Jef-fer-son was in the chair. 

Jef-fer-son did not like pomp or show. This was seen 
on the day when he was made Pres-i-dent. He rode to 
the Cap-i-tol on horse-back, tied his horse to a post, and 
then went in and took the oath. All thought well of the 
speech he made at that time. He was a good man and did 
what his head and heart told him to do. He gave the best 
he had to his friends, and, though much wealth came to him 
from his wife, still, at the last, he was poor. His health 
held out so well that, when four scores of years old he 
could ride ten miles at a time. 

When the day came for him to leave this world he said 
to one near, " Is this the Fourth?" When he found that it 
was, a bright look of joy came to his face and he went to 
his rest, that Fourth of July, 1825. 






JAMES MADISON. 

AT Mont-pel-ier, in 1751, James Mad-i-son was born. 
His folks were well-to-do plant-ers and had slaves. 
The boy was not broug-ht-up to farm work for this was 
all done by the blacks in that part of the land at that time. 
James felt, from the first, that he was born to lead and he 
did so all his life. 

The fa-ther of James Mad-i-son was a man of worth, 
but m his day there were no schools in all Vir-gin-ia, and 
he felt the loss of this to him, so he made up his mind that 
his own son should learn all he could and as soon as he 
could. The moth-er of young James was a great help to 
hini at the start. She led him in the first steps, and the 
lo\'e of these two was sweet to see. 

33 



34 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

At his first school the lad had Greek, French, and two 
or three more tongues. Then a wise man, who could both 
preach and teach. Rev. Thom-as Mar-tin, went to live at 
the Mad-i-sons' home and be with the boy all the time. 
Days, months, and years, books held sway. Then young 
James was fit for col-lege and went to Prince-ton in 1769. 

From the first, the young man had a love for hard work. 
He could heap toil on toil with ease, and this he did with 
much zeal till his health broke down. 

Ere Mad-i-son went to col-lege he knew Jef-fer-son, 
whose home, Shad-well, was but a fair day's ride from 
Mont-pel-ier. Notes went from the school, back and forth, 
and what went on in the the world was well known. At 
the hour when James left home the Col-o-nies thought they 
would soon be States. 

A tale is told of one night at col-lege when young men 
in black robes w^ent out on the green and made a bon-fire. 
The toll of a bell was heard. From the ranks came two 
lads, one of whom held in his hand a news-pa-per which 
he shook with rage, and then threw on the flames, as he 
said, m a loud voice, " So die all foes to Free-dom." 

The words which the lads did not like in that sheet 
were from some folks who would hurt the Great Cause ; 
folks whose " knees were weak, " and who were not " true- 
blue pa-tri-ots." 

One of the boys who took part in this work was James 
Mad-i-son. Notes to boy friends have been kept which 
tell how deep were the thoughts of this lad of the work in 
which he was to bear a part in times to come. He was too 
weak to go to the field of war and fight with the troops. 
Words have been found which he then wrote to a friend. 



J.A.MICS MADISON. 35 

who, he sa\'s, lias " hcahh, \oiith, fire, and zeal to bear him 
on the hi^li track of hfe," while, he him-self was " too dull, 
too poor in health, to do g-reat things or to live long." Yet 
that young, frail hoy had a life of three score years more, 
and a lite, too, lull of all which could make a man [)roud. 
He had a keen wish, from his first }ears, to serve his own 
land and he did so, and won high praise. 

Jef-fer-son was a friend and a guide to young Mad-i-son, 
who, though he could not go to the front, \et found a high 
place as a states-man. \\ hen but a score and three years 
old he was glad that he could join the best men of his 
state and help to make laws, and to do work that would 
form the " Bill of Rights." In this bill he said that all men 
are free to pray to God in the way the)^ see fit. 

Ere James Mad-i-son was a score and ten years old, he 
had a call to do some grand w^ork for his State; and this 
sort of toil, which he was so glad to give, went on for more 
than two scores of years, and came to an end at the last 
when he left that post which was the best gift his land 
could make to him. 

It was in 1809 that Mad-i-son was made Pres-i-dent, 
Then he went east, west, north, and south to see what aid 
he could get in case there might be a war. He well knew 
that Eng-land was a foe and still did mean things. One 
of her l)ad tricks was to stop our ships at sea and search 
them. She had no right to do this. She took men out 
of our ships 1))' force and made them serve the King and 
his Hag for which the_\- felt hate. At last, in 1812, war 
broke out. Our brave tars struck out right and left, and 
soon had the Brit-ish shij)s in bad shape. 

1 here was good luck for our cause on the sea. The 



36 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Brit-ish had scores of ships and we but twelve, none of 
them of large size, and some cheap gun boats. But the 
pluck of our sea-men is known in all lands and on all seas. 
In a short time five of those Eng-lish ships of war were 
ours. 

The good old ship, Con-sti-hi-tion, which to this day is 
most dear to all hearts, was the first to win a great fight. 
She took hold of the Guer-ri-ere^ which flew the red flag of 
Eng-land at her peak, and did not let go till there was not 
a spar left. Then she blew the foe up. 

To make things worse, the Brit-ish got the red men, in 
the west, on their side, gave them arms and shot, and said 
they would back all the fights they could put up on the 
whites who had gone there to live. 

Te-cum-seh, a great chief, led out his men in i8i i. The 
Gov-ern-or of In-di-an-a Ter-ri-tory, W. H. Har-ri-son, 
who by and by was to be Pres-i-dent, brought his troops 
to meet the red foe and soon put them down. This is 
known as the fight of " Tip-pe-ca-noe." 

At sea, then, the Mac-c-do-ni-an and the U-ni-ted States 
met. The brave De-ca-tur was in charge of our ship and 
took the Eng-lish-man as a prize. 

Th^ ship of war, Coii-sti-tu-tion, then caught the yava. 
The Hoj'-net caught the Pea-cock, put great holes in her 
hull, and sunk her. 

Oft Bos-ton there were, in 1813, two Eng-lish ships. 
Our Ches-a-pcake had been some months in the bay. One 
of the Eng-lish ships, the Shan-non, sent word to Cap-tain 
James Law-rence, of our ship, to come out and fight, and 
stood close in shore to wait for him. He went to meet the 
foe, and this time, thous^h our men were brave and fouoht 



.^.. V..W ...^.. ..V^XV. ^XCV»V, C^XXV^ -^"s" 



JAMES MADISON. 37 

well, and Law-rcncc with his last breath said, " Don't oi\c 
Lij) the ship!" the guns of the Shan-non, at last, made our 
ship a wreck. 

But in 1813 on Lake E-rie, with nine ships, Per-ry fought 
six Brit-ish shi[)s that had more guns and won. In the 




A FIGHT AT SEA IN 1813. 



fight he went in a l)()at, mid shot and shell, to a new ship 
when his own was sunk. He wrote of the fight in these 
words, " W^e have met the foe and they are ours!" 

That was glad news, but not all news was glad. The 
British took Wash-ing-ton, set fire to the W hite House, 
and much of the rest of the town. Then they went to Bal- 



38 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

ti-more, but had to leave with great loss. \\ bile the fight 
was on there, Fran-cis Scott Key wrote, on board one of 
the Brit-ish ships to which he had gone for some of our 
men, that great song, " The Star Span-gled Ban-ner." 

" Oh, say can )0U see by the dawn's early light 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? 
Oh, say, does the star spangled banner yet wa\'e 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the bra\e ? " 

The Brit-ish then went down to New Or-leans, but they 
met one there who was more than a match for them. It 
was Gen. Jackson. He had charge of the town. He had 
built up miles of breast-works so that they could not get 
near. His men from Ten-nes-see and Ken-tucky shot ten 
times as true as the Brit-ish. 

Jack-son, with his stout heart, quick eye, and cool head, 
and with just halt the troops of the foe, drove all off in hall 
an hour's time, with the loss of but eight of his own men, 
while two score and five hundred of the foe lay dead on 
the ground. It is said that but few vic-to-ries m all time 
have been so great. This made up for all loss-es. 

If our land had known what had been done at Ghent, 
Bel-gi-um, on Dec. 24, 18 14, this fight might not have 
come. The treat-y of peace was then signed. News came 
slow in those days, and we had to wait to hear what, at 
last, gave great joy to all. 

Eight years Mad-i-son was at the head of our land, and 
it was hard to let him go for he was of great help to us ; 
thouorh there were some who found fault with him, and said 
it was " Mr. Mad-i-son's War," and that it should not have 
come. But when the end came Pres-i-dent Mad-i-son's 
ofood work to heal the wounds was seen and thouc^ht well 



JAMKS MADISON. :',9 

of l)y all. So, when he left the chair and went to his home, 
the o-reat things he had done for his land were the most m 
mind. It was known that he did so large and so grand a 
share of the work by which our Con-sti-tu-tion was made, 
that he has, to all time, the name of the " Fa-ther of the 
Con-sti-tii-tion." 

A wife whoni all could praise, Dol-ly Todd, Mr. Mad-i- 
son found in 1794. Pres-i-dent and Mrs. Wash-ing-ton 
were glad for their two friends to wed. For two scores 
and two years this pair had no cloud m their lives. Mrs. 
Mad-i-son died in Wash-ing-ton in 1 S49. 

All who came to Mont-pel-ier had high praise for the 
wife at the head. The old moth-er of Mr. Mad-i-son would 
sa\' of her, " Dol-ly is wy moth-er now, and cares for all 
mv wants." 

The time came when James Mad-i-son him-self, as old 
age crept on him, had need of the bright cheer his sweet 
wife gave. First he kept to the house, then he took to his 
chair, and near the end, staid in bed, kind to all who saw 
him, with just the right words to say and the same clear 
mind. His calm, good sense was with him, and his trust 
in God was strong. When the time came for him to go, 
he was read-y, and passed to his home on high. 




JAMES MONROE. 

ALL who knew James Mon-roe found him warm and full 
of hfe. "There was no frost In him," said one. His 
forte was for brave deeds. 

He came from a long line of men who fought for church 
and kinor. He was full of fire for the rioht and could do 
quick, hot work for a cause dear to him. His fa-ther was 
Col. Spence Mon-roe, of fine, old Vir-gin-ia stock. His 
large farm was on the right hank of the Po-to-mac Ri\'-er, 
up and down the shores of which, for a long ride, were the 
homes of a grand race of men who were fond of out door 
life, the fresh air, field sports, and all that made life glad. 
Near this place, where lour Pres-i-dents had been born, 
the fifth, James Mon-roe, first saw light, A-pril 28, 1758. 



JAMICS MONROE. 41 

Books were soon in the hands of 3ouno- Mon-roc, hut he 
was made to grow strono-, too, in all ways, and taught the 
best rules of life. The lad was but nme years old when 
his fa-ther and men ot the same sort made it plam 1)\' then* 
strong- words that they did not like the Stamj) Act. I^oth 
sides of James Mon-roe's house were stanch for h'ee-dom 
fi-om Hrit-ish rule. Talk ot this kmd was the hrst that 
came to the boy's ear. His mind was full of the thoughts 
this must bring. I lot words of war were on all li})s and 
it was plain that such a thing must come. 

At last came the drill, drill of those who would learn 
arms. James ga\'e his mind to books as much as he could, 
and when six-teen \ cars old was in col-lege. He staid 
there but one yenr, went home for the hot months, and 
was then off to the wars. 

Soon Mon-roe had a high place m the "Third Yir-gin- 
ia." He fought at White Plains and Har-lem Heights, 
and won much praise. 

When Wash-ing-ton crossed the Del-a-ware and fell on 
the foe at Tren-ton, Mon-roe was in the fight. Most of 
the troops at Tren-ton were Hes-sians, from a Ger-man 
state whose prince for pay had sent them to fight. 

There was a cr\', "Now, bo\'s ! Down with the blood-}' 
Hes-sians! We'll show 'em what thev 2fet for pes-ter-ino- 
A-mer-1-cans. bol-low me. For the guns ! Charge!" 

A lieu-ten-ant in the "Third Vir-gin-ia," young James 
Mon-roe, at the head of his own com-pa-ny, took up that 
cr\', and, with a Hash of his sword made a straight dash at 
the foe on the stone bridge. 

These Hes-sians broke and fled at the end of the fierce 
charge. Mon-roe was struck by a ball, but fiuniz' him-self 



42 LIVES OF THE TRESIDENTS. 

on the bat-ter-y, his men at his heels. The man who led 
the foe, Rahl, with a shout to his men said, " Don't run 
from these reb-el dogs ! Back, back with }'ou ! Fight them ! 
Kill them! Drive them back!" 

The Hes-sians did the best they could, but from hou-ses 
and fen-ces there was the crack, crack of Vir-gin-ia's sharp- 
shoot-ers. Soon Rahl fell with his death wound. 

It was not long, then, ere the foe gave up, and the day 
was ours. This gave great hope to Wash-mg-ton and our 
cause. 

Mon-roe then rose fast in rank. At Mon-mouth and 
Bran-dy-wine he was the first man to lead the way to the 
foe and the last to give up hope when the tide set in the 
wrong way. Step by step he rose to take the high posts 
the land had for him. 

In 1790 James Mon-roe was made a Sen-a-tor and kept 
that post four years. Then he was sent to France to guard 
us in our rights there. He it was who bought for us the 
vast tract of land then all called Lou-is-i-a-na, which Na- 
pode-on sold for a big sum, though the price was small for 
so large a piece. 

Twice Mon-roe was sent to Eng- land and to Spain. 
What came in his way to do he did well. He was made 
Gov-ern-or of his own state, then he was first aid to Pres-i 
dent Mad-i-son. 

On the fourth of March, 1 8 1 7, James Mon-roe was 
sworn in as chief of our land. The time w^as known as the 
" Era of good feel-ing. " Peace was on land and sea. 

When Mon-roe came to the chair there was a big debt. 
He soon paid off the whole of it. Then trade sprang up 
and grew fast. Ships with loads of goods went from land 



JAMi;S MOXR(31':. 4:5 

to land. Wheels in the mills made a start. Then came 
work for all. 

Fhere was mucli need of good roads to take orain and 
all kinds of goods from farms that were lar in-land to the 
place of sale, and a great start was made at this lime to 
build them. To serve the same end the E-rie Can-al was 
dug from P)uf-fa-lo to Al-ha-ny — a great work that hrouglu 
much wealth to the State of New York. 

Some red men in the South made war which grew (|uite 
fierce, but Gen. Jack-son put them down. 

Alore States were made then. Mis-sou-ri was one of 
them, and caused a war of words. The South wished that 
slaves should be held there, while the North wished that 
it should be a free State. Con-gress at last let it in as a 
slave State, but passed a law that a line should be drawn 
through the land, north of w^hich slaves could not be held. 

In South A-mer-i-ca folks did not want to ha\-e on them 
the \'oke of strange lands. W^e then ga\'e them hel|) so 
that they soon were free. 

Alon-roe then set forth the view that if the kings of Eu- 
rope should seek to lay once more their yoke on those who 
had been set free, they must first fight us. This is known 
as the " Mon-roe Doc-trine," and we stand b\' it to this da)-. 

James Mon-roe was the last of the Pres-i-dents of the 
Rev-o-lu-tion. He died like Jef-fer-son and John Ad-ams, 
on the Fourth of Ju-ly. He had gone to New York to 
see his child, and there, in 1831, at four score ^•ears of age, 
the day came when the warm old heart cease to 1)eat. The 
name he left stands high on the roll of fame, as one who 
o^ave his best for his land and fouijht for her in her hour 
of need. 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

OUR sixth Pres-i-dent was John Ouln-cy Ad-ams, who 
was born in Brain-tree, Mass., where the town of 
Ouin-cy now stands, on Ju-ly i i, 1767. 

He had a fine start, for his folks, on both sides, were 
wise and brave, and of the best in the land. The great 
John Ad-ams, who took the chair next to Wash-ing-ton, 
was the fa-ther of this child. Though he had deep love for 
his wife and son, he could not give much time to them, for 
his land had great need of him, and it was his work to 
serve it. But his good wife, with her fine mind, wise head 
and warm heart, was all in all to her boy and could teach 
him and lead him in the best things. 

As was the way in those days, the schools which the 



JOIIX OUIXCV ADAMS. •!•"- 

wise laws of that part of the land had made, soon found 
the \'oung' boy in his place, books m hand. It is said that 
his tiiiick mind did not hnd it hard to grasp facts and hold 
them with a firm grip. At home he had been taught to 
lox'e his own land and tliis he did with zeal and all things 
in it; trees, plants, rocks, hills, birds and beasts. The child 
felt then, in his heart, the same thoughts which came out, 
years af-ter, in the sweet words of our " Na-tion-al Hymn," 
which Rev, S. F. Smith wrote m i8oS: 

" I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and tcni-plcd hills; 
My heart with rap-ture thrills 
Like that al)o\-e." 

When but 7 years old, John Ouin-cy Ad-ams and his 
moth-er took a climb up one of the high hills near their 
home and heard the sounds of the tight on Bun-ker Hill, 
and saw the flames of the ru-in of Charles-town. This 
made a mark on the boy, and more and more strong it 
grew as hours were spent on the same spot when the siege 
of Bos-ton took place. 

When John Ad-ams went to Con-gress, at Phil-a-del- 
phi-a, and left his wife and child for twelve months, he said 
he felt that they both might meet their death in cold blood 
at the hands of the foe. This thought gave him great pain, 
but he knew he must go. When, at last, Wash-ing-ton 
had let the Brit-ish get out of Bos-ton, young John Ouin- 
cy Ad-ams, not then quite nine years old, rode as post-boy 
back and forth, i i miles each way, from Bos-ton to his 
moth-er at the farm, that she might get all the news. 

In two years more, when near 1 1 years, John Ouin-cy 
went to France with his fa-ther, who had been sent to help 



46 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

our land. In France he went to school and had a good 
chance to learn more tono-yes than his own. He was a 
good, bright lad, and did well in his work. When he 
came back he was still the sort of boy who had gone off 
some years since, and his heart beat just as strong for his 
dear old home and all in it. 

Then he was made fit for Har-vard Col-le2:e, and crot 
through there in 1787. He took up law, and at the same 
time wrote much for the press. It was thought that Mr. 
Ad-ams would be of use to us in lands o'er the sea, so he 
was sent to stand for our rights in Hol-land. From there 
he went to Port-u-gal and Prus-sia. He made much good 
will twixt this land and those lands, and when it was done 
he came home and took up law once more. 

In 1797 John Ouin-cy Ad-ams found a wife in Miss 
Lou-i-sa C. John-son, whose fa-ther was A-mer-i-can Con- 
sul at Lon-don. 

Fie was sent to the Sen-ate in 1802 and did much to 
help the poor in the land by the stand he took on all bills 
put up by men who would get rich at the cost of those who 
could not help them-selves. There were some folks who 
made it hard for him in those days but he fought them all 
down. 

In 181 7 he had a call to be Sec-re-ta-ry of State and 
went to live in Wash-in s"-ton. It was soon found that he 
was the right man in the right place and a great help to 
the new Pres-i-dent, James Mon-roe. 

In 1825 John Ouin-cy Ad-ams was made Pres-i-dent. 

Then there were more men from whom to chose, so 
those who had a right to vote took sides. But the man 
who got the place did well and his rule was one of peace. 



JOHN OUIXCY ADAMS. 47 

One l)riglit man, whose name was well known at that 
time, was Ilen-ry Clay. He took charge of the funds. 
He knew hcnv to make a good speech. He said he first 
made talks in an off-hand way when he was at work in 
woods or fields as a bo)\ He came from poor folks and 

had t(^ work hard, but he got to 
be a great man. 

Ad-ams had scores of fine 
plans to bring out for the good 
of the land and those m it. He 
told how to place sums not in 
use ; he had a scheme for weights 
and n-ieas-ures ; he made a start 
for a Na-val School ; he, felt too, 
that there must be a Na-tion-al 
School of high grade, and an Ob- 
ser-va-to-ry, where the stars could 
be seen throuofh a strong^ alass, 
and said that sums must be paid 
to WMse men to do that kind of work. 

The first rail-road in the U-ni-ted States w^as built in 
this term. It was but three miles long, and the cars were 
drawn by a horse. Steam was first used on an A-mer-i- 
can rail-road in 1829. 

In those days, there was, as now, much talj: of a tax to 
])c put on goods from far lands. Some folks thought it 
wrong, and some thought it right. Ad-ams was for high 
tax and this was why he did not hold the chair for more 
than one term. 

When he left the chair, in 1829, he went back to his 
old home in Ouin-cy, where his fa-ther, the second Pres-i- 




HENRY CLAY. 



48 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

dent, still lived.. But in 1830, he was sent once more 
to Con-gress, and then, too, he did grand work for the 
land. Hen-ry Clay said to him, "How do you feel to be 
a boy once more ? You'll find a lot of hard ^work." Ad- 
ams said " I well know this ; but work I shall do so long 
as my hands, my eyes, and my brain do not leave me.'' 




FIRST AMERICAN PASSENGER RAILROAD. 



He kept his word, year by year, and was, each day, one of 
the "first to come and the last to go." He took a high 
stand and kept it in spite of all. 

On Feb. 21, 1848, John Ouin-cy Ad-ams, while in the 
"House" fell at his post. He had fought a good fight, 
won the day, and went home with these words on his lips; 
" This is the last of earth ; I am content." 



ANDREW JACKSON. 

THE fa-ther of our scv-enth Pres-i-dent was a poor man 
who came from the north of Ire-land. His son, An- 
(h'ew Jack-son, was born in North Car-o-H-na, March 15, 
1767. The fa-ther cHed a few days ere his child saw the 
light. 

The moth-er took her young babe from the poor log hut 
and went with him, in the spring of 1767, to the home of 
kin in South Car-o-li-na, where he might not starve. 

It is said that what the boy knew of books he got from 
the " Old Field School," and that it was naught more than 
the "Three R's." 

When but e-lev-en years old, hard war times came, and 
hordes of Brit-ish troops were in South Car-o-li-na. Food 



50 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 

was scarce for poor folks, and Jack-son's kin died, and the 
boy, An-drew, was out in the workl. He was made a 
cap-tive and had hard kick. An Eng-hsh-man, in a high 
post, gave cross words to the child, said he was low-bred 
scum and had no rights. He flung his boots at the child, 
told him to " clean the beast-ly red mud off of them and 
be quick ! " The Eng-lish-man had one by him whose work 
it was to do this. The boy An-drew knew it and said with 
spunk that it " was not the place of a free A-mer-ican boy 
to clean Brit-ish boots ! " Then the rude man sprang at the 
lad, told him he was a cur and spoke vile words. He 
struck the poor child with his sword and made a deep 
welt in the wrist, way to the bone. There was a cut far 
in-to the head, too, and the blood ran in a stream. An- 
drew Jack-son bore those scars to his grave. They put 
strength in him when his time came to meet the foe in the 
field. Through the Bnt-ish, the boy had lost his moth-er, 
all his kin, and his home, and near-ly lost his own life. He 
felt that he would like to rid the land of such a foe. 

The strong Scot-tish blood which ran in An-drew's veins 
gave him the sort of brain and brawn which was a great 
help to him and to the land of his birth. He had his way 
to make and he made it but there was much to bear. Once 
a man shot him. Then he was thrown in jail with a wound. 
Next, he had the small pox, and when he got up from it 
he did not know, for a time, what to do or where to go. 
But he kept a brave heart and felt that there must be some 
chance for him in this bigr world. 

It came to his mind that it would be well to learn a 
trade. He thought he should like to make such things as 
reins, straps, and gear of all sorts for hor-ses. This work 



AXDRiaV JACKSON. 51 

he (lid tor a while, then he went to the A-mer-i-can tr()0])s 
and took iip arms. I^re he was eight-een )'ears old he was 
at work on law hooks, and he stuck to them till he was at 
the Bar. 

In 1796 An-(h"ew Jack-son was sent to Con-i(ress from 
len-nes-see, where he had oone to live. This was in the 
last year ol \\ ash-in^-ton's last term. He (hd so well there 
that the next \ear he was sent to the Sen-ate. Then he 
was made a Judge. 

\\ hile in Con-<rress there were times when Jack-son's 
hot blood was too much for him. Jef-fer-son said that 
when there were things An-drew Jack-son did not like, 
he would get up to speak and then choke with rage so that 
he could not say a word. 

He gave up his judge-ship and bought and sold land, 
kept the red men off the war path, took a wife, rode up 
and down the land, made strono- foes and strong friends. 
He held high rank in the Ten-nes-see troops, and when 
war w^ith Great Brit-ain broke out, in 1812, he was made 
head of all for-ces in the south-west. 

When, at last, An-drew Jack-son found that he was face 
to face with the Brit-ish foe in front of New Or-leans, Jan. 
1S15, he felt glad in his heart, and made up his mind to 
win or die. It has been said that "no oth-er man could 
ha\'e saved New Or-leans." 

It was a fierce fight, but it w^as short, and the A-mer-i- 
cans won. 

Tales are told of Jack-son's warm heart. There is one 
of a kind thing he did w^hen the fights with the red foe 
were on. A dead In-di-an moth-er had her young babe 
in her arms. Some one said, " W'hy save him? His folks 



5-2 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

arc dead. His fa-ther was brave, and lost his life with his 
face to the foe. Let him die, too. Kill him now ; it is 
best." 

Then the head of the troops. Gen. Jack-son, broke out 
in a great rage. "The boy shall live!" he said. '' Fil 
tend him, if no one else will. Take him to my tent." 

There was not much to eat in that tent. All the men 
were lean for want of food. Some brown su-gar was found, 
and this, put with wa-ter, kept life in the babe till they could 
get him as far as Jack-son's home, where his kind wife was 
glad to keep him, raise him, and call him son. He had 
that good home and those to love him for seven-teen years 
when the call came for him to pass on to the next world. ' 

Jack-son's work in the Creek war and at New Or-leans 
made all think much of him as one who could lead and do 
great work for a great cause. Folks meant to have him 
for Pres-i-dent some day, but they had to wait twelve years 
for it. But all the while his strength grew. At last, in 
1829, An-drew Jack-son was made Pres-i-dent and kept the 
chair two terms, or, till 1837. 

There were some in the South then who felt that there 
was more wealth and land for the North than was fair. 
There were few mills in the South and few goods. Some, 
said they would cut loose and set up a new band of States. 
They went so far as to drill for war, and a man was found 
to lead. His name was John C. Cal-houn. 

Then Pres-i-dent Jack-son said that "our land would 
come to naught, if a State could go out when it chose." 
So he sent ships and troops and made a cjuick end of all 
that. ' 

Prom the time Jack-son came to the chair the land grew 



A\DRi:\V JACKSON. .",3 

in strength and wealth more and more. Miles of rail-road 
were built that were a great help, and steamd)oats cam.e 
more in-to use. 

Jack-son's work was hard and he had much to do, lor 
there was great strife as to the themes of the da)', the skues, 
tax-es, banks, and more. He did his best for what he 
thought was the good of all in the land. He made France 
pa)^ sums due us, and he knew how to put an end to the 
ill-will of Spain and Den-mark. 

When, at the end of his last term, in 1837, Prcs-i-dent 
Jack-son made his last s{)eech, things were in such shape 
that he felt most glad. He had been bra\'e, firm, said what 
he thought, and had |)ut dowMi his foes. Best of all he had 
kept the land as one. He was just and true in what he 
did, and had the weal of his own land, at all times, close 
to his heart. Those who loved him gave him the name of 
" Old Hick-o-ry," which was thought to fit him well as he 
was so strong and firm. 

He went back to his Ten-nes-see home and was there 
eight years, strong to the last in his zeal for the U-ni-ted 
States, for which his love was so great. 

All the fame of which he could ha\'e dreamed in his 
youth was his at last. The poor boy from the pine woods 
belt and the log hut, with none to help him, came to be a 
he-ro in this land. 

He died June 8, 1845, at the age of 78. In his last 
}ears he was at peace with all. 




MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



IN 1782 our eighth Prcs-i-dcnt, Mar-tin Van Bu-ren, was 
born at Kin-der-hook, in New York. His folks had 
come from the land of the Dutch. 

At school, Encr-lish and Lat-in soon made \^'ork for the 
lad. He did so well with them that when he was four-teen 
years old he read law in his own town, and soon went to 
New York Cit-y to do the same kind of work. 1803 found 
him at the Bar. 

When 1807 came in. Mar-tin Van Buren took for wife 
one of his kin who had been a child at school with him. 
They went then to live at Hud-son, N. Y. 

Van Bu-ren, in 1821, was sent by his State to Con-gress. 
In six vears more he was Gov-ern-or of New York. He 



MARTIX \'A\ 15URi:X. T)', 

was Scc-rc-ta-ry of State when Jack-son was Chief, from 
icS29 to 1831, Vice-Pres-i-dent in 1833, and Prcs-i-dent in 

1 he first thino- Prcs-i-dcnt Van Bu-rcn did was to end 
the war with the In-di-ans. Then, in a few months, came 
hard tunes, when the hanks failed and trade was at a stand 
still. There was no work, and some tried to put the blame 
for these thini^s on the Pres-i-dent. \'an Bu-ren said that 
one cause of the hard tunes was that folks now had a wish 
to li\'e too high and spend too much, in place of the 
plam ways oi the old tunes. 

Some of the folks m Can-a-da, late in the year of 1837, 
said they would set up their own laws and that we must 
help them. The Pres-i-dent was firm and said we should 
not do it. Stdl there were some who thought they would 
gi\e their help, and cpiite a large force left New York and 
set out for Can-a-da, but they were soon put down. 

It was a long pull and a hard pull for Van Bu-ren all 
through his term of four years. It was write, talk, act, and 
tr\' to keep down the fiings of those who did not like him. 
\^an Bu-ren was a bright man, and did the best that could 
be done at that time. As his four years were near their 
end it was known that a race would come as to the one 
who should next have the chair. Some said " Give the 
post to the rich man, Van Bu-ren, of the White House." 
More said, " Give the chair to the poor man. Gen. Har-ri- 
son of the Log Cab-in." I lar-ri-son had made a name in 
the In-di-an wars, and stood high as a he-ro in the land, 
and more votes came to him, so he got the post. 

When near four score years old, Van Bur-en died, in 
1872, at his old home at Km-der-hook. 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



THE "Log Cabin man," Wil-liam Hen-ry Har-ri-son, 
was our next and ninth Prcs-i-dent. He was the son 
of a good and wise man, Gov. Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son, who 
put his name to the " Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence." 

The boy had a chance to learn much both from books 
and from hfe. When half a score and nine years old, he 
went with the troops to fight the red foe in the West. The 
brave work he did when in charge of Fort Wash-ing-ton, 
where Cin-cin-na-ti now stands, led folks to send him to 
Con-gress m a few years. In 1801 he had charge of wast 
tracts of land held by In-di-ans who rose in 181 1. Har-ri- 
son put them down at Tip-pi-ca-noe. For this he won the 
rank of Gen-er-al, and when the war with Eng-land came, 

56 



WILLIAM HKNRV IL\RRIS()\. :,7 

in iSi2, he fought in a way that brought his fame up to a 
high point. 

Prom his farm in O-hi-o, where his home was for tweKe 
years, he had a call to be Pres-i-dent. Some tried to put 
him down, slur him, and say he had to live in a log-cab-in 
with naught to drink but hard ci- 
der. His friends took up the 
cry, and soon small log huts 
sprang up all o'er the land, and 
hard ci-der came to be much m 
use just then. 

In 1 84 1 Gen, Har-ri-son was 
made Chief with great pomp. 
There was much joy in the land 
and folks had hopes that all would 
go well. Some of the best of 
men went to help him. His Sec- 
re-ta-ry of State was Dan-iel Web- 
ster, whose name stands with that 
of Hen-ry Clay at the top of the list of the great men 0} 
those days. 

Har-ri-son was 68 years of age when he took the chair. 
Few of our Pres-i-dents were so old. His life had been 
much on the field, in fights, and on the rough lands in the 
W^est. The hard strain of his new post, and the change 
from his home life made him ill just when he had need of 
his best health and strength. In just one month from the 
day he took his seat, the good man who had been tried 
and found as true as steel was dead. 

Grief was in all hearts. A fear came, too, lest new and 
strange hands might wreck the Shi{) of State. 




DANIEL WEBSTER 




JOHN TYLER. 

THE Ty-iers, of Vir-gin-ia, from the first, would cut free 
from Eng-land if she could not be made to do what 
was right for the folks in this land. One of them had held 
a post which the King gave. The son of that man, when 
quite young, was m a place in his own State where he could 
hear and know what it was best to do then for the good of 
all. He could hear Har-ri-son, Pen-die-ton, Ran-dolph, 
and Col. Wash-ing-ton. The hot words of Pat-rick Hen- 
ry, too, were in his ears. 

While the war of the Rev-o-lu-tion went on, and when 
it was at an end, this man, the first John Ty-ler, had good 
pla-ces in which to work for our land in his own State. 
His wife, Ma-ry Arm-i-stead, with all her kin, too, was on 



JOHN TYLER. 59 

the same side. Mr. Tv-lcr's work was law. He was 

not rich, for fees were small m those clays. He had some 
ground and a home at Charles Cit-y. Here, in March, 
1790, his son, John, who, in due tmie, was to be Pres-i- 
dcnt of the U-ni-ted States, was born. 

Life in that home was most glad for the small boy. He 
knew naught of the war which was then in the land. He 
was but six years old when Wash-ing-ton ga\'e his " Fare- 
well Ad-dress." Book work went on at home for the lad 
and all else came at the right time. 

From the first it was clear that the child would go on in 
his fa-ther's steps. He grew fond of books, kept at work, 
and soon was fit for Will-iam and Mar-y Col-lege, where 
he staid till his course came to an end in 1806. Then he 
read law with his fa-ther. He had nice wa)'s, wit, was 
kind, and made friends. 

In 1808 young Ty-ler's fa-ther came to be Gov-er-nor of 
his own State. This was a help to the son who found a 
high post ere he was a score and one years old. Five 
years at this work made the young man feel that there 
were steps that he might take were it not that there were 
scores and scores of men with more years and more right 
to fame than he had, but, in spite of all this, in 18 16, he 
haci ci call to serve his State, and, in time to come, was 
Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-ia. 

In 1840 folks who took the side which went by the 
name of Whig gave their vote for John Ty-ler for Vice- 
Pres-i-dent when Har-ri-son was to be Pres-i-dent. But 
Har-ri-son was dead in a month's time, and the Vice- 
Pres-i-dent Ty-ler took the chair as Pres-i-dent. 

He had not been lon<j in his seat when the Mor-mons 



60 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

got up a strife in the State of Mis-sou-ri, where they took a 
large tract of land, but the folks who were there did not 
want them so troops were sent to drive them out. They 
did the same thmg m Il-h-nois, but were sent off to the 

wilds of the far West. 

Things were not at peace with the 
Pres-i-dent and those who put him 
m the chau". The men who gave 
hmi their votes had a strong wish 
to pass some bills which John Ty- 
ler did not like. Hence there was 
strife most of the time. 

War broke out in Tex-as. The 
Tex-as men fought those of Mex-i- 
co and won. Then they made 
known that it was their wish to join 
our Un-ion, and they came in as a State in 1S45. 

Ty-ler did his best to keep the chair for one more term 
but it was not to be so. Polk was to have the place. 

A great thing was found out at this time by Sam-u-el 
F. B. Morse. It was that folks could talk by means ol a 
wire, to those a long way off In 1844 the first line was 
set up from Bal-ti-more to Wash-ing-ton, and on this was 
sent the news that Polk would have the chair when Ty-ler 
left it. 

In 1861 John Ty-ler was one of the " Con-fed-er-ate 
Con-gress." He was 72 years old then, and had not the 
strength to bear all that came in those sad days. Death 
came to him the next year. 




SAMUEL F B MORSE 




JAMES KNOX POLK. 

FOR years and years, and long ere we fought to be free, 
I-rish folk came to this land. An-dre\v Jack-son's 
kin were of this race and so were James Pol-lock's. They 
found it was good for them to be here and not in their old 
home. When the time came to try to get free from the 
yoke of Eng-land, they were right glad to help. 

The real name, Pol-lock, soon came to be Polk. The 
Polks took up land on the west edge of North Car-o-lina. 
In 1795, in the farm house of Sam-u-el Polk, a son was 
born who came to have the name of James Knox Polk, to 
be Gov-ern-or of his own State, and Pres-i-dent of the 
I -ni-ted States in )'ears to come. 

The child was not strong, but bright. As years came to 

61 



62 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

him he fek he must be more than a back-woods man, so he 
bent his mind to find a way to learn what books coukl 
teach him. 

There was so small a chance to rise in that place that 
scores of folks went West and found homes near Nash- 
ville. Duck Riv-er was where Sam-u-el Polk made a stop, 
and built a log house in 1806. 

The young boy, James, could not do much hard work, 
but he could ride and drive and so was of use on the lone 
trips which had to be made from time to time to get food. 
The life of which the boy would have been glad, was, he 
felt then, far off. His kin said that he "was not cut out to 
hunt, fight, or till the land," so his fa-ther found a chance 

for him to work in a store. The boy 
had to beg his fa-ther to let him take 
up books. So one Fall, when the 
crops were good, and the youth 
thir-teen years old, he was sent to 
live with Rev. Dr. Hen-der-son, 
who taught him, and, in time, made 
him fit for the U-ni-ver-si-ty of 
North Car-o-li-na. All were proud 
of the boy who had got so far on, 
and they felt sure that the sums put 
out on him were not lost. 

In 1820 Polk was at the Bar. 
Here he had such luck as falls to the lot of few. He was 
sent to Con-gress, for ten years, and was made head of his 
own State in 1839. He knew how to treat folks well 
though they might not be of the same mind as he was. 
Polk cime to be Pres-i-dent in 1S45, though it was 




GEORGE BANCROFT. 



hi 111 was aines 



P>u- 



j.\Mi:s Kxox roLK, e>^ 

tlioui^ht, atone time, that IIen-r\' CIa\' would haxe the 
ehair. All knew \\)\\< to he wise, and sure to speak the 
truth as he knew it. W hen he made up his mind, naught 
could turn him. 

One of the men he chose to help 
( han-an, who was to l)e Pres-i- 
dent in halt a score and two years, 
(jeoro-e Ban-croft, who wrote 
hooks of oa'eat worth, was there 
too. At that time, and lonLi' ere 
that date, the talk was of the 
sla\'es and what to do as to the 
claim to hold them m the new 
parts of the land. 

War with ]\Iex-i-C(^ came on. 
l^roops were sent there. \\ ith 
them was a ^•ouno- nian whose 
name was to be much known in 
Years to come. This was U. S. 
Grant. In this war, which came to an end m 1 84<S, two 
men won great fame, Zach-a-ry Tay-lor and Win-held 
Scott. \\ hen peace was made, the U-ni-ted States, in the 
course of five years, paid a big sum for New Mex-ic-o and 
Up-per Cal-i-for-nia. 

It has been said that though Polk could not rank with 
the high states-men who had come ere his day, yet when 
he held the chair great things came which shed a bright 
light on his term. 

Large tracts of new lands came then to be ours. Gold 
was found m Gal-i-for-m-a. Things which came, some folks 
thought, were like Jef-fer-son's da\' dreams. 




GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT 



64 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

It seems that some men who were at work on a mill- 
race in Cal-i-for-ni-a, dug out a trench and found bits in the 
rocks and sand which were bright as gold. They kept all 
they found and it was soon known to be gold. The news 
spread and hosts were wild to go there where they could 
pick up big sums right out of the dirt. Great flocks of 
men got there as soon as they could. It was a wild, mad 
race, and not a few found naught but a chance to leave 
their bones in that ground. 

A great State soon grew up where but cloth tents had 
been, and, in years to come, her fruits, grains, wines, wool, 
oil, and woods were sent to all lands. 

While Polk was Chief the Un-ion took in three new 
States, in two of which no slaves could be kept. 

There were brave and good men at work at that time 
who were for " Free Soil." This meant that in our lands 
which were not yet States no one should, in all time, be 
held a slave. This brought on no end of talk and much 
ill will. 

Polk did the best he could, and his wife, who came of 
well-to-do folks in Ten-nes-see, was a great help to him. 
All knew her to be one who was just and true. Mrs. Polk 
had a great love for her church, was kind to the poor, was 
well read, plain in dress, could speak with great ease, and 
all through her life naught that was ill could be said of 
her. 

Pres-i-dent Polk, had said, from the first, that he did not 
wish to keep the chair more than the first four years. At 
the end, then, of the first term, he went to his home at 
Nash-ville, where he died in 1849, at the age of 54. The 
good wife was 88 at the time of her death in 1891. 




ZACHARY TAYLOR. 

OUR twelfth Prcs-i-dent, Zach-a-ry Tax-lor, was born in 
Vir-gin-ia in 1784. His fa-ther had a high place in 
the " Con-ti-ncn-tal Ar-my," and fought by the side of 
Wash-ing-ton. 

When of age, Zach-a-ry took uj) arms to fight the foe. 
He rose high in the ranks, and won so much praise that 
he was soon m charge of the troops. 

When the war with Mex-i-co came on, this same man 
won the great fights at Pa-lo Al-to and Mon-te-rey. Folks 
thouofht hmi one of the first m the land. Streets were one 
blaze of lio"ht when he came home, fiags blew in the breeze 
and cheers rent the air as he and his horse went by. Tales 
of Tavdor's deeds went throuijh the land. It was told that 

65 



66 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

in the midst of one of his fights with the Mex-i-cans the 
balls came close to the place where he stood with some of 
his staff To duck the head when the balls went by was 
what all, save the Gen-er-al, did. " Don't dodge ! Brave 
men should not dodo-e ! " said the orreat man. At last a 
ball came close to the old man's nose, and it made him 
start back. His men had a good laugh at this. Tay-lor 
felt a flush of shame on his face, but a smile came, and he 
said, " I fear you will have to dodge the balls. Dodge — 
but don't run. " 

The grand work that Tay-lor had done all through his 
life for the good of his own land led folks to make him 
Pres-i-dent in 1848. With him, in the next place, was 
Mil-lard Fill-more of New York. 

Tay-lor was of the side which went by the name of Whig. 
He gave posts as the worth of the men led him to give 
them. He was a true, sound man, a "down-right man" 
as one who could well judge of him said. 

As a Pres-i-dent his heart was true, his zeal for his own 
land, great. He had strong, good sense to guide him in 
his new field, and if he could have been in the chair long 
he would have put a stamp of his own on work for the 
good of all. 

A good wife, who came from Ma-ry-land stock, and boys 
and girls of his own, who were, at times, with him in camp, 
made a good sort of home life for the Gen-er-al when on 
the field. His wife was a great help with the sick and 
those who had had wounds at the camp. At Tam-pa Bay, 
and more places her work was well known. But when 
Gen. Tay-lor took the chair his wife did not care for the 
gay life of the White House, but gave her place to her 



ZACHARV TAYLOR. 67 

youn<>' (laui^h-ter, Miss Bct-ty, who had great charms, and 
made hosts of friends. One child, Sa-rah Knox, was, in 
time, the wife of Jef-fer-son Da-vis. 

Pres-i-dent Tay-lor was 65 years old when he took the 
chair. He had great trust in those near him. Still, as 
one who from his first years had ])een where his work was 
to watch the state of the times, he held his ear to the 
ground and heard the tramp, tramp of the sad, sad march 
of men which was to come. His views, though he held 
slaves, were, that, come what might, the Un-ion must be 
kept. 

Pres-i-dent Tay-lor held his post but six-teen months. 
His death was a great loss. No man could have had 
more lo\'e for the Un-ion, and, he, of all men, would have 
been the one who could so have steered the Ship of State 
that she might long have kept off the shoals and sands 
on which she struck. 

Tay-lor died at Wash-ing-ton, July 9 ,1850. There was 
woe then through the whole land, for a great man gone, 
gone, too, just at the time when his help was our keen 
need. 

Tay-lor had one son, Rich-ard, born In 1826. This boy 
had all that schools in this land and oth-ers could give him. 
Then he went to his fa-ther's camp and saw great fights in 
the war with Mex-i-co. He took land in the South and 
had slaves to raise cane. This was his home till i860, 
when the war broke out twixt the North and South. Then 
Tay-lor found men to make up troops, led them to the 
field to fight, and rose fast till he held a high post. At 
the close of the war, all his funds and land were gone. He 
died in New York in 1879. 




MILLARD FILLMORE. 

MIL- LARD Fill-more, the next to take the chair, was 
born in New York in 1800. His (jreat erand-fa-ther 
was born in New Eng-land more than 200 years ago. 

A few years ere the boy, Mil-lard, who was to take the 
place of Zach-a-ry Tay-lor, was born, his fa-ther went, with 
his young wife, Phe-be Mil-lard, to the west part of New 
York. The fa-ther had a high name for worth, and it is 
said that his creed was " do rio-ht." 

The Fill-more house was in the midst of a dense tract of 
woods. The next house was four miles off There was no 
school. The two books in the new house were the Word 
of God and a book of hymns. 

The lad, Mil-lard, had to go to work as soon as he could. 



MIF.I.ARl) FILL.MORK. (V.t 

As his fa-thcr had no chance or means to l)uy books lor 
hnii it was thought best that he should learn a trade. \\ hen 
he was a strong- youth of half a score and four years old he 
made a start to learn to card wool and dress cloth. To do 
this he was bound out to work for a man with whom he 
staid h\'e years. Ihat man was harsh to all who were 
there, but most so to \-oung Fill-more. One day this bad 
man, who was not just, tried to beat his good bound l)oy, 
Init the )'outh, through his woods work, was strong, so he 
took an axe in his hand and told the bad man that if he 
did so it would cost him his life. The man then thought 
it would be best not to try to thrash this bra\e lad. 

When young Fill-more left that work he put up some 
l)read, dry deer meat, and his few clothes, and set out on 
foot for his fa-ther's house, which was more than fix'e scores 
of miles off WHiat he w^ent through at that time made a 
deep mark on him. It staid by him all his life, and kept 
him kind to all, but most so to the weak and those with 
none to help them. 

In course of time Fill-more had found out a Avay to take 
up law. Soon he was at the Bar. He won his first case. 
He was not cjuick, but slow and sure. 

Fill-more was sent to Con-gress in 1832, and was there 
six )ears. He held some fine posts, and did so well in all 
of them that he was put in as Vice Pres-i-dent. Then, 
when the Pres-i-dent died. Fill-more took his place. 

Ihe theme of the slaves still kept to the front. Fill- 
more thought it would be well to send them out of this land. 
He thought they would be well off in Africa. They would 
not then be bought and sold. There they could ha\'e their 
homes and lands, and be free. 



70 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Mr. Fill-more did what he could to save his land from 
the woes of a home war, so that we might have peace and 
joy, in lieu of that which came, — great loss of life and large 
debts. 

While he was Pres-i-dent there was a band of rough 
men from our land whose wish it was to try to get Cu-ba 
in their hands. Fill-more soon put a stop to that. Spain 
then got hold of some of them and shot them. 

When the chiefs term was up, all who had been in close 
touch with him while he held the chair wrote to him that 
they were one with him in all that he had done. They 
said, too, that they knew he had skill, tact, and good faith ; 
that he was fair and square at all times, and had great zeal 
for the weal of his own land and all in it. 

Mr. Fill-more, aft-er he left the chair, had his home in 
Buf-fa-lo for more than twen-ty years. All there had pride 
in him and gave him high praise. His heart was in all 
good work. In the war with the South he lent his aid in 
all ways to the cause of the North, and for the help of 
those in need. He made the start in schemes for the good 
of those in his midst, and to this day there are those in his 
town who rise up and bless his name. 

Fill-more, like Lin-coln, rose from a poor home. It was 
hard work. He kept his hands clean, his heart pure, and 
his head cool. It has been said that he was a sound Chris- 
tian and did not know it. 

It was but a brief time that ex-Pres-i-dent Fill-more was 
ill. His death came March 8, 1874. 




FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

THE next man to take the chair was Frank-Hn Pierce, 
who was sworn in as Pres-i-dent in 1853. He was 
born in Hills-bor-ough, New Hamp-shire in 1804. His 
fa-ther, Ben-ja-min Pierce, on the cLay of the fight at Lex- 
ing-ton, took his first step to join the troops. He staid and 
fought with them till the Rev-o-lu-tion-a-ry War came to 
an end. He rose high and was, in time, a Gen-er-al. 

\\1ien the boy Frank-lin was quite young his fa-ther 
saw in him a love for books. This he made sure should 
have all the help he could give. He did not stint the sums 
spent for this cause, but sent his son to the best schools. 
In 1820 the lad went to Bow-doin Col-lege, at Bruns-wick, 
Maine. When his time was out he stood third in his class. 



72 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

He then took up law, at Ports-mouth. In 1827 he was 
at the Bar and went to work at the law in his home town. 
At first he did not do so well as he thought he should. 
But he did not give up. He said he felt quite sure that 
he could hold his own in the court house in a way that 
would please both him and his friends. This came true. 
He was known as a man of brains. While quite young 
he had high posts in his state and held them some years. 

In 1833 Mr. Pierce went to Con-gress In 1842 he 
gave up his seat in the Senate with the thought that he 
would keep to his law work and have his own folks with 
him at Con-cord, N. H. Hosts of posts were held out to 
him but to all he said " No," and that naught could take 
him from home save a war. Though shut up in his own 
town, still, he did not lose touch with what went on in the 
land. When the talk came of Tex-as and if it were best or 
not to add that part to our states, he said it was his strong- 
wish to join Tex-as with us, free if she would be, but slave 
if she would have it so. Pierce led his side with great 
skill at all times and held his own. 

War came in Mex-i-co in 1846, and Pierce joined the 
troops. Then it was drill, drill and read up on that sort 
of work. At first he took a low post, but he soon went up 
till he was the head of the 9th. Pres-i-dent Polk made 
him a Gen-er-al the next year. Then he set sail from New- 
port, in the bark Kep-ler with his troops, and in a month's 
time was in Ver-a Cruz. At last they took up the march 
to join Gen. Scott who was at Pu-eb-la. There were hard 
times down there and hard fights. Pierce's horse fell with 
him and died, while the ri-der was hurt,but with pluck kept 
at his work till the foe gave up. Pierce was brave and 



FRANKLIN riKRCIC. 73 

won praise for what he tlid. When our side won, and the 
war was at an end, Pierce had made new friends who were 
of much use to hini in years to come. His own state 
made him a gift of a hne sword when he got home from 
the South. 

Frank-hn Pierce was made Pres-i-dent and took his seat 
March 4, 1853. 

At that time there still was strife as to slaves when each 
new state came in. When Kan-sas and Ne-bras-ka were 
to he made ter-ri-to-ries, Con-gress made a law which it 
was thought would clinch the point. It said that they 
might be tree or sla\'e just as the folks there might vote. 

On the da}' the \'otes were cast in the new land much 
blood w.'is shed from the fijjhts and broils. To burn a town 
w;is a small thino. It was thouoht the war there mioht 
spread through the land. 

Pres-i-dent Pierce sent strong words to Con-gress on 
this theme in 1856; and said that if there was not a 
change in the state of things out there, troops would be 
sent to stop them. 

Kan-sas at last was free and then peace came there, but 
it was not till the next Pres-i-dent was near the end of his 
term. 

Ere the great war came Pierce did his best to keep the 
peace, at times in ways in which he may have been at fault. 
He was a man who had no orreed for self He was true 
to his land and did what he thought was for its good. PI is 
kith and kin had done the same, and their views ()n this 
theme were as his own. 
. Frank-hn Pierce died in Con-cord, N. H. 1869. 




JAMES BUCHANAN. 

THERE had been half a score and four Pres-i-dents ere 
James Bu-chan-an came in. His name put one more 
on the Hst. 

It was in the Spring of 1791, in a wild gorge near one 
end of the Blue Ridge, at Sto-ny Bat-ter, Penn-syl-va-ni-a, 
that a son was born to one James Bu-chan-an, a man from 
the north of Ire-land. He had come to A-mer-i-ca, a poor 
man, in 1783. His first work was to stake a claim. Soon 
he built a rude log house where high hills would be on all 
sides, and a clear stream would flow near his door. When 
the first James had been five years in that place, and felt 
that he could care for a wife, he found a good one to share 
his lot. Her name was Speer and her folks had land near 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 75 

by. When a ho)- was born to this pair the name of James 
came first to the moth-er's Hps. 

Young James was eight years in that liome. I he next 
home of the Bu-chan-ans was at Mer-cers-burg, in the same 
state. Here the boy went to school, soon took up Greek 
and work which made him fit for col-lege when but four- 
teen years old. He went through his four years course 
with ease and came out at the end in 1809. The days of 
his youth were those of the )'Outh of our land, and young 
Bu-chan-an was prom{)t to give his aid when and where it 
would do the most good. So in three years from the time 
he made his start in life he threw down his law books and 
went to the front, where there was need of strong arms and 
stout hearts to meet the new blow that Eng-land struck at 
us in the war of 181 2. 

While a young man Bu-chan-an was the choice of his 
state to help make her laws. Then he was sent to Wash- 
ing-ton and held his place there for ten years. 

Pres-i-dent Jack-son sent him to Rus-sia to look out for 
our rights there. When he came back a place was found 
for him in the Sen-ate. 

James Bu-chan-an was made Pres-i-dent in 1857. Wdien 
he first took the chair the slave theme was once more in 
the law courts. 

A black man, whose name was Dred Scott, thought he 
ought to be free, for his owner had tak-en him to a part of 
the land where the law of 1820 had said there should be 
no slaves. When the case came up the court said that 
those who held slaves had a right to take them through the 
land with them. Thus the law of 1820 was swept out with 
one blow, and the folks at the North did not like it. 



70 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 

There were fiorhts in U-tah, for the Mor-mons would not 
Hve by our rules and sought to cast off our yoke, but the 
Pres-i-dent sent troops out to force them to stop their tricks 
and lay down their arms, which they did. 

The great Pa-cif-ic Rail-way made a start when Bu-chan- 
an held the reins. The sole way to cross the plains and 
the Rock-y Mts. had been by mail coach, which was slow 




TAKING THE U. S. MAIL ACROSS THE PLAINS IN THE 'SOS. 

and not safe from In-di-an raids. Large sums and great 
skill were what did the work, which was not brought to an 
end till 1869. 

While Bu-chan-an was in the chair, in 1859, a great feat 
took place. The first wire was laid through the sea. 
Words were then sent from our land to those in the Old 
World. 

A man by the name of John Brown made up his mind 



JAMES BUCll.W.W. 77 

that he would try to do work which would put an end to 
sla-ver-y, which he thought was a orreat crime in this land. 
He had sons to hel{) him. All of them would lay down 
their lives if they could set the slaves free. There were a 
few more men to work with them and these all went to 
Har-per's T^er-ry and held a fort for two days. They took 
all the arms they found in the fort. It was their hope to 
give these to the slaves m the South so that they might 
rise and fight to be free. 

The laws of this land had been set at naught by John 
Brown, so troops were sent to seize him. There was a 
hard fight. The sons were shot down, but the brave old 
man kept up the fire till he fell with six wounds. He was 
tried and hung. 

In 1858 Min-ne-so-ta came in as one more state. Or-e- 
gon came the next year, 1859, and Kan-sas in 1861. 

At first it was thouQrht that coal could be found in but 
two or three states, but in the new states there were great 
beds of it, as much coal, it is said as there was in all the 
rest of the world. Gold, too, was found m more states 
than Cal-i-for-ni-a:: — it was seen in Col-o-ra-do in 1858, and 
in more parts of the Rock-y Mts. Mines were soon 
brought to light m Ne-va-da which were rich in sil-ver. 
\\ ells were sunk in Penn-s\l-va-ni-a and vast beds from 
which oil sprung made a new and large source of wealth. 
Our land had means in hand fcM" all her needs. 

It was Pres-i-dent Bu-chan-an's good luck to be in the 
chair when these new things of worth came in. But there 
were, too, themes then on hand which were to bring much 
thiit was sad all through the land. 

The South said it had a right to keep slaves. The man 



78 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

at the North knew not how to deal with this. Bu-chan-an 
did not know what it was best to do. He saw the fires of 
war start up. When the time to choose a new Pres-i-dent 
came, the South said that if the choice fell on Lin-coln they 
would leave the Un-ion, as they thought he would side too 

much with the slaves. The vote 
was for Lin-coln, so they put their 
threat in force. 

South Car-o-lin-a was the first 
to lead. In i860 she said from 
that time she would not bear the 
laws of the Un-ion but would make 
some of her own. Six more states 
cut loose and set up as free from 
the laws which bound them to the 
North. In streets in towns of the 
J South were heard bells and shouts 
of joy. These states chose Jef-fer- 
son Da-vis to be their head. 

The North thought all the states in this land should be 
as one, and that those which had gone off should be made 
to come back. This broufjht a orreat strife and such was 
the way things stood when Bu-chan-an's term was out. He 
then went to his home at Wheat-land and met his death 
in 1868. 




JEFFERSON DAVIS. 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



"N 1638 the first Lin-coln ca-mc to this land hx)m Eng- 
land and made a home at Hmg-ham, Alas-sa-chu-setts. 
The son of this man was the oreat-great-grand-fa-ther of 
A-bra-ham Lin-coln, the 16th Pres-i-dent of the U-nit-ed 
States, who was born in Ken-tuck-v, bcb. 12, 1809. 

Though the first of this name had thrift and lands which 
came down to each in turn, l)v the time Ihom-as, the fa- 
ther of our Pres-i-dent, wms born there was naught left but 
strength, health, and a good name. Nan-cy Hanks, the 
young bride of Thom-as, was born in \ ir-gin-ia, and went 
to her new home m a poor log hut in 1806. The first child 
of this pair was a girl, Sa-rah ; the next was A-bra-ham. 
The brax'e voung wife did all she could t(^ hel|) in that poor 



80 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

place. She knew how to use a gun, and would go out and 
bring down a deer or a bear, and dress and cook it for her 
own to eat. Then she made clothes, shoes, and head-gear 
from the skins of beasts. 

It was hard work, toil, toil, all the time for this sweet 
kind moth-er, whose heart was so large and love so great 
for her dear ones. 

In a new log house not far off the life went on for a short 




LOG CABIN IN WHICH ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN. 



time, and then the fa-ther, Thom-as, who was more fond of 
change than of work, said it would be best to " pull up 
stakes" and move on to the West, where they would find 



rich soil and more oame. 



A frail craft w^as built anel their goods put on it. Then 
Thom-as went off, but soon ofot on the snao^s, and much of 
his stuff was lost ; but he went on his way with what was 
left, while those at home did the best they could. The 
poor home had but one bed tick, in which were mere corn 
husks ; on this one bed all slept. There was one i-ron pot 



AHRAllA.M LINCOLN. 81 

to cook food in. 1 here was a l)ook wliicli the moth-er well 
knew. It was the Wort! of God. She read it and taught 
them all to read from it. 

In the cool days of the fall, Thoni-as came home. lie 
said he had lound a great land, and that the)^ must start for 
it at once, to get there ere the hard cold ckiys came. So 
with a cart and a " four yoke," and all the rest of their poor 
goods, they took up then" Ime of march to the far off land 
of In-di-an-a. At night they slept on the ground on beds 
made of leaves and pine twigs. Their food was game which 
their guns brought down. From tmie to time they had to 
ford or swim streams. No rain fell on them while on their 
wav. They led a free, wild life in the woods for weeks. 
When at last they came to the banks of one stream and 
could look from there of( to the land where they were to 
li\e, they saw naught but trees, as far as the eye could look, 
both down stream and up stream. There was no sound 
save that of the bu'ds and small game. 

On a knoll on which the grass grew thick, in the heart 
of dense woods, they made their camp of three sides and 
put a roof on it of split slabs. Through the cold months 
they hung up a screen of pelts or skins of beasts to serve 
as a door. A fire-place of sticks and clay was on one side. 

The young lad was then in his eighth year, tall for his 
age and clad in a home spun garb or part skins of beasts. 
The cap was made of the skin of a coon with the tail on. 
While young, the boy knew the use of the axe, the maul, 
and the wedge, and with these he found out how to split 
rails from the logs drawn out of the woods. He knew the 
trees and shrubs by their leaves and bark and he found out 
what ones were good to heal wounds and stop pain. So 



82 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

life went on from day to day till, when " Abe " was ten 
years old, the dear moth-er, to whom he gave so much love, 
went to her home on high. The boy thought his heart 
would break then. He staid by her grave and all the days 
were dark to him. It was a great grief to the child that 
the good man of God who spoke in the old home was not 
there to say some words at that time. Then it was that 
the boy wrote his first let-ter. The last year of his life in 
the old place a man had come there who taught both Sa- 
rah and Abraham and a few more near by. Now the pen 
could be of use. That poor note was sent to ask the good 
Par-son El-kin to come and pray at his moth-er's grave. 
The kind man heard the call, and went five scores of miles 
to say those words. 

Books were what the lad thought he must get. They were 
scarce in that land. One must go miles to find one. There 
came a chance one day. A man, far off, had Weems' Life 
of Wash-ing-ton. The boy got the loan of it, and, full of 
joy, took it home in his shirt. The words found in that 
book made a stamp on young Lin-coln. It made him think 
and feel that he, too, iiiight be of use in this world some day 
if he were brave and sought to do right at all times. 

As Lin-coln grew up he found work on a flat-boat to 
trade skins down South. He was glad to go and see the 
world. This was in 1828. It was then that he first saw 
a man flog a slave in chains. It was a sight to make him 
ill, and one which staid by him. 

The raft work was so well done that a chance soon came 
for the young man to take charge of a mill and store in the 
town of New Sa-lem. Here a name for truth was won. 
All could trust the bright youth. The smart tales he told 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 8:5 

made folks laugh. Good books were found at that time 
and they were read with jo)'. 

When the Black Hawk war broke out, Lm-coln was 
quick to meet the call for men, and found all he could and 
went with them. 1 he charge of these was put in his hands 
so he took them to the seat of war. 

Rob-ert An-dcr-son, who in years to come was to hold 
sway at Fort Sum-ter when the first gun of the civ-il war 
was heard, met young Lin-coln and his small force. He 
led them to Col. Zach-a-ry Tay-lor, who went by the pet 
name of old " Rough and Read-y," and whose war boys 
and friends thought so much of him that they made him 
Pres-i-dent in 1848. 

The Black Hawk war was short and the boys made a 
start for hon^ie. When Lin-coln was back at his work, the 
man for whom he kept the store found that he must give 
up, so the young clerk was out of a job. At that time a 
man of sense was to be put in a high place. Some friends 
thought Lin-coln would do well in it. At first he thought 
it strange that they should want him, but he said they 
might try to place him there if they would. He lost, by a 
few votes, but two years from that tune he ran once more 
and got it. But in the mean while Lin-coln must find work 
for each day's needs. There came a chance to set up a store 
with a man. They kept it for a while, but it did not make 
much, and they had to fail. Lin-coln paid all the debts. 
He would not let folks lose. 

Law books then came in the young man's way. A friend, 
miles off, was glad to lend them. Lin-coln chose queer 
spots in which to read these books. Some days he would 
sit down on a wood pile for this work. He would, too, he 



84 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

in the shade of a big tree, or, at night, sit by a bright fire 
in some smith's shop. But in each place it was read, read, 
work, work, to get hold of all the hard things these books 
taught. 

The next work which would earn sums was that done 
with chain and rule. Lin-coln knew how to tell the length 
and breadth of the land with these tools. It is said that 
he took a grape vine for a chain, and with it he could tell 
folks just what they would like to know. The price paid 
for this work was a great help. 

In 1833, An-drew Jack-son, the Pres-i-dent, who was a 
strong friend of young Lin-coln, made him Post-mas-ter of 
New Sa-lem, his home town. The work was not hard, for 
folks did not write much in those days. The mail all went 
in the good man's hat, and he took it to the right homes 
on his way to work with chain and rule. 

Chan-ces came for good deeds. All through his life this 
man was glad to do kind things. Poor folks went to him 
for help. He could set them right. The law was a good 
thing to know, and, as that work went on, the young man 
found that he was more and more glad to know it, and he 
was soon at the Bar. 

Lin-coln knew how to talk. It was a o-rc^t mft and one 
of his strong points. From a child, he would please his 
friends in this way when they said " Speech ! Speech ! " 

As time went on men saw that Lin-coln had great, good 
sense, and felt that he could win a cause and help them, so 
they sent him where he could plan laws that would be good 
for all. It was in 1846 that he took his seat in Con-gress. 
From the first he ga\'e his voice and vote to help the slave. 

When Mr. Lin-coln's term in Con-eress came to an end 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. S") 

he went hack to Spnn^-ticld, where he had made a home, 
and took up his law work once more. I here was a great 
deal to do, for folks had trust in him though they could not 
pay him much. I'ees might he small, hut they were not 
the best thing in the world. The btst was to wish to do 
what was right and just to all men. 

At last the time came when men met to plan for a good, 
true, wise man for the chief seat in the land. A-bra-ham 
Lin-coln's name came up. The poor boy from the back 
woods was the one folks said they must have. They made 
him tell what he thought of things then. Some of the 
words he said are these ; " I know there is a God, and that 
he hates in-jus-tice and sla-ver-y ; I see the storm com-ing, 
and I know that His hand is in it. If he has a place and 
work for me — and I think he has — I be-lieve I am read-y. 
/ am noth-ing, but truth is ev-er-y-thing. I know I am 
right, be-cause I know lib-er-ty is right. God teach-es it." 

There were three more men whose names were brought 
up for the same post that Lm-coln's was, but he had the 
most votes. There were hard thoughts, at Hrst, in some 
places, but, as time went on, it was found, that though 
there were dark ckus, the ver-v best had been done for 
the whole land. 

The time came for Lin-coln to leave Spring-field and 
start for \\'ash-ing-ton. He made his last speech at home, 
and told how sad it made him to leave. He said 

"To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I 
am. To-day I leave }'ou." 

Lm-coln felt that the task that he would meet, as head of 
the land, was a hard one, more so than that which fell to 
the hrst great Chief George Wash-mg-ton. But he knew 



86 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 



that God would be with him and give him strength to do 
his work. 

So the boy from the log house in the woods went on his 
way to the White House. 

Lin-coln would have been glad to have kept peace with 
both North and South, and when he made his first speech 
in Wash-ing-ton he told folks so. But there were those 
who would not keep the peace. War came, a long, sad 




FORT SUMTER UNDER FIRE 



war of four years. Pres-i-dent Lin-coln did all he could 
to have peace, but six states had left the Un-ion ere he 
came to be chief 

One Spring day a bomb shell fell on Fort Sumter. The 
South sprang to arms. The great heart of the North grew 
hot with shame and rage. Homes, trades, and dear ones 
were left and the men of the North were soon on their 
way to meet the foe. 

At Bull Run, where the first great fight took place, the 



A15RA11AM LINCOLN. 



87 




m 

1 






," ' > ,i, 



■^'>. / 




^^S'li'^^;. 



Ur->^xp 



RETREAT OF UNION TROOPS AT BULL HUN 



North thought they would win, but they did not do so. 
They found out that it was not a play war, and that they 
must have more men to helf) them, so Pres-i-dent Lin-coln 
sent out a call that brought a great host to the field. 

At the South the slaves thought that the Yan-kees were 
down there to make them fi'ee, so they did all they could 
to help them, but they kept still till the time came for them 
to take their place in the field. 

Lin-coln said that his prime aim was to save the land 
and not to fight to free the slaves. These are his words : 
" If I could save the Un-ion, thouijh I did not free a slave, 
I would do it. If I must let them go free to save it, I 
w^ould do it. Still, in my own heart, it is my wish that all 
men, in all lands, should be free." 

All through 1 86 1 there were fights big and small, most 
of which were won by the South. In 1862 war took a 
start in the West, with the great U. S. Grant at the head 



88 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

of the troops. The North won some hard fights. The 
South had bad times but its folks bore up with brave hearts. 
They could not get goods, and crops were poor, still they 
won on the field more than once. 

It would seem that a flash of luck came to them when, 
with Gen-er-al Lee at the head, troops from the South went 
o'er the Po-to-mac to Ma-ry-land. Harm might then come 
to Wash-ing-ton. It was a dark tmie for the cause of the 
North. 

One day in the fall of the year 1862, the Pres-i-dent had 
the men who were his help in time of need sit still while 
he read strong words to them. Pie told them that from 
the first day of the year 1863 the black race should be free. 

As the South had not quit war 
when that day came Lin-coln said 
that m all the States of the South 
iliat were still at war all the slaves 
\\ere tree. Two years from then all 
[lie slaves in the land were made 
Iree. Plosts of black men took their 
})lace with Un-ion troops in ships, 
at forts, on the field, or where there 
was need for them. They were 
brave and did good work. 

In June, 1863, the troops of the 
South m charge of Gen. Lee came once more o'er the Po- 
to-mac, but on the first three days of Ju-ly, the troops ot 
the North drove them back in the fjreat fiijht at Get-tvs- 
burof 

This good news spread North on " In-de-pen-dence 
Dav, ' and at the same time came word that on that same 




GENERAL ROBERT E LEE. 



AIM^AIIAM LINCOLN. 89 

Fourth ol Jul) \ icks-l)uro- ga\'c uj) to Gen. Cirant, and the 
whole Mis-sis-sip-pi River was free! 

A(l-mi-ral Far-ra-gut's fleet from the North hat! o()nc 
past the forts at the mouth of that riv-er, and up to New 
Or-leans in the Spring of 1862. This same man went to 
Mo-l)ile Bay with a large fleet in 
Au-gust, 1864. Two strong forts 
were there to keep foes off. In a 
short time he took both forts and 
went up to Mo-bile. 

The North met with great loss in 
1864 from gun boats built in I'^ng- 
land to cruise the seas and seize all 
ships that bore the stars and stripes. 
The trade of the North was much 
hurt by these boats. One that did 
the most harm was the Al-a-ba-ma. 
Her ])ad deeds were brought to a stop by the U-ni-ted 
States man-of-war Kear-sarge which found her ofl the coast 
of France, and in an hour's hard fioht sent her down to 
rise no more. The Al-a-ba-ma was l)Uilt in I^.ng-land lor 
the South. 

On the At-lan-tic coasts I'n-ion shi[)s of war kej)t oil the 
crafts of all sorts froni the posts of the South. '1 hose m 
the ports were made to stay there. The men of the sea did 
great work for the 
land and sea was their wish. 




ADMIRAL FARRAGUT. 



Un-ion cause. One flag o'er all the 



Our glo-ri-ous fla;^ of stripes and stars 

O'er all the land and sea, 

One Standard may it ev-er be, 

The ban-ner of the free ! 



90 LIVES OK THE PRESIDENTS. 

The war brought forth a new style of boat, a small, queer 
craft that did a great work for ships of wood of the North, 
in Hamp-ton Roads. She drove back from them the great 
war ship Mer-ri-mac which the South had clad in i-ron. 
This new craft was the Mon-i-tor. She was sharp at both 
ends, was set low so that shot did not harm her, and on her 




THE MERRIMAC SINKING WOODEN SHIPS IN HAMPTON ROADS. 

deck was a round house with big guns in it. The men on 
board could make this house with its guns turn which way 
they chose. Most war ships since then have been built 
with such a house. 

When Lin-coln had put Grant in charge of all the men 
of the North in arms, and saw that he could "fight it out" 
to the end and knew " no such word as fail," one would 
think that the Pres-i-dent might rest, but he did not do so. 
It was his way to think and act, and not leave the work to 
some one else. He would talk with wise men but his own 
mind would lead. 



AliRAllAM LINCOLN. 1)1 

The hi^h i^ost Lin-coln held (hd not make him proud. 
He was true to what was best in the world. He sought 
wise and great men to learn of them. His heart and hand 
went out to all in need. His form was tall and gaunt. 
His strong-, plain face bore deep Imes of thought. A clear 
light would come to his dark eyes, at times, with some 
bright thought. A glad smile would break when some 
dear friend drew near. He stood In' those who did well. 
He was kind, too, to those who did ill. It was his wish to 
use all right men and all right means that would serve the 
cause he had in charge. None had a doubt of him, and in 
the end he was found to be right. One wrote : 

" How hum-ble, yet how hopc-ful he could be, 
How in good for-tune and in ill the same ; 
Nor bit-ter in suc-cess, nor boast-ful he, 
Thirst-y for gold, nor fev-er-ish for fame." 

When the fourth of March, 1865, came, once more 
A-bra-ham Lin-coln was made Pres-i-dent of the U-ni-ted 
States. What he said 
then will not die. As in 
times past, in the West, 
'twas said of one of his 
speeches then, so it was 
said at this time, "The 
world can't beat it ! " 

It would seem as if 
such a man as Lin-coln 
was one whom we could 
not spare. But God knew 
best. The end of the war 




UNION TROOPS MARCHING INTO RICHMOND. 



92 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

came. Lin-coln stood in tlic streets of Rich-montl. He 
heard the cries and thanks from those who once were 
bought and sold hke beasts. The men of the North had 
brought the war to a close. 

Lin-coln's heart was full of love tor those who had to 
give up. He thought much of how to make both sides 
friends once more. But soon a dread crime made all the 
land dark. In the midst of joy a great shock came. 

Pres-i-dent Lin-coln, with his mind at ease, his heart full 
of love and peace, with thoughts of how he could best heal 
the wounds of war, had gone to a play with his wife and 
two young friends, for it was the wish of men that he should 
be seen. 

A bad man, to whom Lin-coln had done no ill, shot 
down the great and good Pres-i-dent, and in a few hours 
the end came. 

Grief was deep in the land. Men wept as they heard 
the sad news. Plags were at half mast. Each house had 
a badge of woe. 

" The old world and the new, from sea to sea, 
Ut-ter one voice of syni-pa-thy and shame ! 
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high ; 
Sad life, cut short just as its tri-umph came." 

Throuo"h all these vears the name of A-bra-ham Lin- 
coin has been held dear. No man has found the way to 
the hearts of all as he did. He had a sound mind, a true, 
warm heart, and a firm trust in God. His name stands 
with that of George Wash-ing-ton on the bright roll of 
fame. 




ANDREW JOHNSON. 

THE same morn that Prcs-i-dent Lin-coln died, An-drcw 
John-son took the chan". 

John-son was born in a small log house, in Ra-leigh, N. 
C 1808. His folks were poor. The fa-ther died when the 
bo\- was four years old. At the age of ten, An-drew was 
put out for a term of }'ears to work for a nian who made 
clothes, and to learn that trade. He found a small book 
in the shop with A B Cs in it. The men at work there 
told hini what they were and taught him to read. 

In 1824, when e-lev-en years old, John-son went to the 
next state, South Car-o-li-na, where he found work at his 
trade. Two years thence he was once more in Ra-leigh. 
From there, with his kin, he set out, in a cart with two 



94 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

wheels, drawn by a small, blind horse, for Green-ville, 
Tenn. Here, in a brief time, he wed a bright, young girl 
who taught him to write, and who read to him each day 
while he sat at work. 

The sway in Ten-nes-see in those days Was in the hands 
of men who held large tracts of land. John-son made up 
his mind to head a clan of poor folks who thought they 
would like a share in the rule of their own state. These 
soon got a small post for him, and in a few years gave him 
the chief place in Green-ville. He knew how to talk and 
could make a good speech. 

In 1843 John-son was sent to Con-gress. He is said to 
have been proud of his low birth and thought folks should 
do much for him as he had come up so well. Still, in most 
things he was thought to have sense and knew how to serve 
his friends with zeal. 

Though John-son did not think it wrong to hold slaves 
yet he did not like the men who held them. All through 
his life the class thought was in his mind. When the war 
broke out, he said he should stand by the Un-ion, come 
what might. In speech he said hard things and told what 
he would do to those who went out of the Un-ion, it he had 
the chance. For words of this sort he was set on by mobs, 
but he drove them all back by arms. 

In March, 1862, Pres-i-dent Lin-coln gave John-son a 
high place in Ten-nes-see. His rule there was strict, and 
he made hosts of foes. 

When March 4, 1865, came Pres-i-dent Lin-coln took 
the oath once more as chief On the same day An-drew 
John-son took Ids oath as Vice Pres-i-dent. At that time 
he spoke in such a way that he made not a few strong foes. 



AXl)Ki:\V JOIIXSON. 95 

When tlic war was at an end, in May, 1865, the men 
who hatl lou^ht were paid otf and sent home. J hey w'ent 
back to then" own work and took it up in a |)romi)t way, 
with the thought to help them that they had done their 
best for the Land of the Stars and Stripes. 

John-son's aims came to l^e far from those which most 
men thought he held when he was j)ut in the chair. He 
tried to bring the states of the South back on a i)lan of his 
own. Con-gress did not like his {)lan, and, m s])ite of him, 
made laws which it thought would make it safe to let those 
states come back. By the end of John-son's term 7 states 
had come in with those laws. 

John-son did much harm, and said words that were not 
wise, so that there was fear on the part of some that he 
would Ijring the wdiole land to shame. A move was made 
to take him Irom his [)()st. A change ol one vote in the 
Sen-ate would ha\e ])ut him out of the chair. 

His self will and rash speech were the prime cause of all 
this strife. He did not care for the blacks, and he did not 
see that his |)lan would put the South m the hands of men 
of the caste he did not like. Con-gress said that all men 
both black and white must ha\e the same rights, and the 
plan of Con-gress won at last, though at the end of John- 
son's term four of the states that had gone out of the Un-ion 
were still out. But these four came back in 1870. 

At the end of our war the brench troops held Mex-i-co. 
The Un-i-ted States made a strong mo\e to ha\e them 
leave, and at last b ranee said it would be done. The man 
at the head, Max-i-mil-i-an, w^e said might stay if that were 
the wish of the Mex-i-cans. When the b^rench troops left, 
in 1867, this head man would not go with them, so the 



96 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Mex-I-cans caught him and shot him. The U-ni-ted States 
sent a plea to them to spare him, but they would not do it. 
His wife, Car-lot-ta, then lost her mind through grief. 

In 1866 the At-lan-tic Tel-e-graph Line, a rope of wires 
'neath the sea, was laid. This great work had been tried 







w/ 



LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE. 



in tmies past, but things went wrong and the wires broke. 
Since that time more wires have been put down. The 
way to do it is so well known now that word will not cease 
thus to pass from land to land. 

In 1867 we bought A-las-ka from Rus-sia for what men 
thought a large sum, but since then they have found A-las- 
ka to be a land rich in gold, and that the price was small. 

When John-son's term was out he went back to Ten- 
nes-see. That state sent him to the Sen-ate in 1875, but 
he died that same vear. 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

U-LYS-SES Grant was born In a small house at Point 
Pleas-ant on the north bank of the O-hi-o Riv-er, a 
score and five miles east from Cin-cin-na-ti. Back of that 
house rose high hills where grew ash and oak trees. In 
front a stream ran past and boats went up and down all the 
time. 

In 1820, right at that spot where much tan bark could 
be found, there was a place to cure hides. The young man 
in charge of it was Jes-se Grant. He was large and 
strong, and found all the work he could do at that trade. 
He was of New Eng-land stock. 

In 182 I, Jes-se Grant wed a nice girl of fine looks and 
good blood near Phil-a-del-phi-a. Her name was Han-nah 



98 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Simp-son. In 1822 the first son was born. The next 
year Jes-se Grant set up tan works of his own at George- 
town, and did well. 

At first the young pair did not know what to name the 
babe. At last the fa-ther, who had queer plans, said that 
a lot of names should be put in a hat, which one might 
shake, and then draw out for chance. The moth-er's fa- 
ther wrote on a slip the name of " Hi-ram." His wife, who 
had just read Fe-ne-lon's " Te-lem-a-chus," and had been 
proud of the U-lys-ses in it, wrote that word on a slip. 
When the first two slips were drawn out the names of 
Hi-ram and U-lys-ses came to light, so the child took the 
two names. 

From the first the boy was the pride of his fa-ther's heart 
and he built his hopes on him. The child was well and 
strong. At eight the boy drove the team which went 
round and round to break the bark for the mill. It was 
his work, too, to break, with a maul, long strips of bark. 
He did not like this work as well as he did to drive the 
team from the woods when it brought in the logs, so, as 
soon as he could, he found out a way to earn sums to pay 
boys to do this work for him. He drove loads or folks 
back and forth to near-by towns and so could earn to pay 
boys who did his work at home. 

The fa-ther thought this child was born for great things, 
so he sent him to a fine school that cost him a good deal. 
In the hours at home the same work went on with the 
teams and the bark, but some time was left for fun with 
the boy friends, and U-lys-ses went off to the woods to get 
grapes and nuts and paw-paws, and to swim in the streams 
in warm months, and skate and coast on the cold days. 



ri.VSSES S GRANT. 09 

WHlmt half a score and Ji\c \cars old, L -lys-scs was sent 
to Ma\s-\ ilk\ kcn-tuck-\-, not iar off, to a school of high 
grade. The man who taught hnii, then, was coMcge bred 
and made a strong mark on the lad. Notes kept at that 
time state that " H. V. Grant ranks hidi in all class-es ; 
de-pc^rt-ment the best." 

At a club in that town young Grant took part in talk 
on themes of the day and most tunes was on the side that 
won. He was but one \ear at this school and then went 
home to work m the old wav. One day his fa-ther said: 

" U-lys-ses you'll ha\'e to go to the beam-room and help 
me to-day." 

That place was one the boy did not like. He had been 
kept out of it u\) to this time. There he must scrape and 
stretch hides, the smell of which made him sick. 

Then U-lys-ses told his fa-ther that he would work for 
him till he was of age, but that he did not like the hide 
trade and did not want to take it lor his own. The good 
fa-ther at once said : 

" My son, I don't want you to work at it now, if you 
don't like it, and don't mean to stick to it. What do you 
think )-ou would like? " 

" I could farm, or trade down the stream, or learn from 
books." 

Times were "close" just then, and to send the boy to a 
pay school more was not to be thought of Jes-se Grant 
kept this in mind and said: "How would you like to go 
to West Point?" 

"First-rate " said U-lys-ses. 

Jes-se Grant had in his veins the blood of kin who 
fought in the wars of our land, and he felt that West Point 

LctC. 



lUO LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

would be just the place for his son, so in 1839 a chance 
came and H. U. Grant, as he then wrote his name, set out 
for West Point. The man who got the post for him wrote 
" U. S."', with the moth-er's name of Simp-son in mind, and 
so the name was left U. S., though the young ca-det told 
of the slip. 

Young Grant got a good name while at West Point, 
and made strong friends who were his till the day of his 
death. He was just and true and did right at all times. 
He did not talk much but he was fond of good fun. He 
did not swear, and did not like low jokes, but kept a pure 
mind and a clear head. 

At the end of his four years course at West Point, 
Grant was sent to Tex-as to join Gen. Z. Tay-lor, in 1843, 
and drive out the Mex-i-cans. He took part in fights at 
Pa-lo Al-to, Re-sa-ca, Mon-te-rey, the siege of Ve-ra Cruz, 
and more. At Mo-li-na del Rey he was so brave that he 
was made lieu-ten-ant, and at Cha-pul-te-pec he was made 
cap-tam. The fights went on till they took the cit-y of 
Mex-i-co by storm in 1847. 

The next year Grant wed Miss Ju-lia Dent, who came, 
as did the wife of Jes-se Grant, from folks of means and 
worth. In 1854 U. S. Grant left the troops and went to 
live with his wife and babes near St. Lou-is. Much hard 
work came to them then, and hard times as well. 

When Sum-ter had been fired on, Grant took up arms 
once more, got men to join the ranks, and gave much time 
to drill them. At the end of five weeks Capt. Grant was, 
made Col-o-nel Grant, and sent off, at the head of the 
"Twenty Pirst Il-li-nois," to the seat of war. 

Ma-jor Gen. Fre-mont had charge of all the troops in 



n.VSSl'lS S. GRANT. 101 

tlic far West at that time. He sent Grant to Cai-ro, at 

the mouth of the O-hi-o. I lis first work was to block all 

roads and streams so that arms and iood could not net 

thi'ouoh the hues to aid the foe. Most of the men with 

( I 1" a n t had h e en 

brought up on farms ;^ 

and knew not the art 

of war, thouo'h they 

were good shots. He 

did fine work at that 

post and won praise. 

Trom Cai-ro Grant 
went up the Ten-nes- 
see Ri-ver to Fort 
Hen-ry. Ere he 
there a fleet of 
boats, in charge of 
Com. Foote, took the 
fort, though a large 
part of the foe had left the fort by land and were then at 
bort Don-el-son. Grant's troops went there and with hard 
work took it, Feb. i6, 1862. 

This broke up the whole line of the foe and put it far 
back in Ten-nes-see. Boats of the North could now sail 
up three great streams. Prom Co-lum-bus and some points 
m Ken-tuck-v, the troops of the South went back for fear 
their posts would be cut ofl by Un-ion troops on their 
march. 

More men w^ere then sent on steam boats up the Ten- 
nes-see to join Grant's force. They made camp at Pitts- 
burgh Land-ine on the west side of the stream in the south 



got 




_-3V 



GUNBOATS ON THE TENNESSEE 



102 LIVES OF THIC PRlvSIDKNTS 

part ot the state. Bu-ell's troops went clown the cast side 
of the same stream to join them there. Ere Bu-ell could 
reach Grant, the men of the South, in charge of John-ston, 
hurst from the woods on the Un-ion troops and drove 
them to, and down, the high banks to the stream. Here 
our gun-boats drove the foe back by a great lire ol shells. 



'^ K^ N 




^ 




J 




■' ...'■ .j^ ^ ^-^- %\ m: -.4 m ^ t^^ ^ 




U.«IO.J TROOPS CHARGING AT VICKSBURG 



This gave the Un-ion force time to take post in good form 
once more. Ere night fell some of Bu-ell's fresh troops 
come up to Grant. Gen. John-ston, who led the foe, was 
killed. The next morn the Un-ion troops drove the force 
of the South off the held. This great fight took the name 
of Shi-loh from a loe" church near which the worst work 



was done. 

All through 1862 the strife went on. 



The South held 



ULVSSI'.S S. C.RANT. 103 

Its own with a linn L^iip, l)ut the Un-ion men, too, had 
i^rcat ])hick and zeal. Some iig'hts the Nortli would win, 
and then the South had its turn. 

In 1863 the l)eats ot Cirant's drums were heaid neai' 
V^icksd^ui'o- on the Mis-sis-sij)-])!. 'I'o this town he laid 
close siege tor six weeks and, at last, took it, on Ju-1\- 4, 
1863. This gave much jo\' to the • 
North and U. S. Grant come to he 
known as one of the best Un-ion 
Gen-er-als. lie then took charge: ot 
all the tro()j)s of the West which 
were east ot the Mis-sis-sip-pi, and 
drew men trom all of them, as well 
as from the Ar-my of the Po-to-mac. 
Sher-man, too, in whom he had 
great trust he brought with him. 

rhen (jrant made up his mmd to 
storm tw^o high hills held b)' the foe. 
Look-out Moun-tain and Mis-sion-a-r\' Ridge <'"-ive wav to 
his zeal and were won by the Un-ion troops. 

The year icS63 was one of great gain to the cause of the 
U-mt-ed States in the West. A tine new set of (jcn-er- 
als, Cirant, Sher-man, Sher-i-dan, and more, held sway. 

In the I^ast less had l)een done, tor the great Lee, head 
of the force of the South, was more than a match for the 
men who fought him. But at (jet-tys-burgh Lee's ar-my 
met such ill luck that it was not (juite uj) to whrt it had 
been ere this, so he tried no more to come north of the 
Po-to-mac. 

In that Ju-ly, 1863, the course of the war took a turn, 
and the cause of the South <jfrew weak from then on. In 




GEN WILLIAM T SHERMAN 



104 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 

that month the North won at Vicks-burg, Port Hud- 
son and Get-tys-burg. The next month Lin-coln had a 
day of thanks set for the North, while the South, on its 
part, set a day to pray and fast. 

Grant had done so well that, In 1864, he was made 
Lieu-ten-ant Gen-er-al and all the force of the U-ni-ted 
States, 500,000 men, was put in his charge. He had been 
at the head of the " Ar-my of the Ten-nes-see," the " Ar-my 
of the Mis-sis-sip-pi," the "Ar-my of the Cum-ber-land," 
and now he took charge of the " Ar-my of the Po-to-mac." 
With him to Vir-gin-ia Grant brought Sher-i-dan who 
was a great help and did bold deeds . One of these was 
that ride in the Shen-an-do-ah Val-ley when he made a rout 
of the foe af-ter they drove back the Un-ion troops while 

I • -" - Sher-i-dan was off at Win-ches-ter. 

The tale is told by T. B. Read in 
" Sher-i-dan's Ride." 

Grant had felt that he must p^o 
to Vir-gin-ia and meet Rob-ert E. 
Lee who still had a large force 
there. He made his plans, and the 
cry of " On to Rich-mond ! " rang 
through the North. 

Lee was a great chief and a brave 
man. He did grand work for the 
cause of the South. Long and 
fierce was the strife twixt the two ar-mies. At last a white 
flag was seen. Lee sent it. It was his wish to know what 
terms could be made. Grant wrote back : 

" Let the South lay down their arms. This will save 
life and brim^ the war at once to an end." 




GEN. PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 



I'l.VSSl'.S S. C.RAXr. 10;") 

On A-|>ril 9, 1S65, Lcc signed the terms of peace which 
Cirant had (h"a\vn up. In Ma\- the last ot the foe in the 
South and West had laid down their arms and war was at 
an end. More than tour long" \ears it had gone on, and 
wast hosts ot l)ra\e 



th 



men on hotn sides nac 
gone to their death. 



Hut F 



eace nac I come 
at last! The dear old 
Hag would now Hoat 
o'er both North and 
South, We were one 

Na-tion once 






V5^ 



mi) '. 





GOING HOME 



great 
more ! 

It was but ti\e days 
from the time that peace came w^hen Lin-coln w^as shot. 
An-drew John-son had to take his place, but when his 
term was out Gen. Grant was made chief of the land. 

When Grant took the chair he gave his old place at 
arms to Gen. Sher-man, who had done great work for the 
Un-ion cause. The march which Sher-man had made 
through Geor-gi-a, as well as scores more of great deeds, 
gave him a high name. 

In 1869 the Pa-cif-ic Rail-road was done. The next 
year the " Al-a-ba-ma Claims " came up, and Great Brit- 
ain had to |)ay the U-ni-ted States a \'ast sum for what she 
did in the war with the South. 

New words were put with the " Con-sti-tu-tion." They 
were that all men should have the right to x'ote and no race 
or hue should be kept out, though they might ha\'e been 
slax'es ere the war. This was the " 1 :;th A-mend-ment." 




lot) LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Next year, 187 i, a set of whites, the " Ku Klux Klan," 
who rode by night, in masks, to kill and maim the blacks, 
and the whites, too, who did not suit them, were out in force. 
Pres-i-dent Grant saw that strong laws were to stop make 

their work. 

Rings were made at that time to 
cheat the gov-ern-ment with all sorts 
of schemes, and Grant's task to put 
all thinors straiQrht was not one of 
case. Some men of his own side 
lound fault, and wished to change 
M)me of the laws. One of them was 
a man of note, Hor-ace Greeley. 
He was the head of a great pa-per 
in New York, The Trib-tine. When 
the time came to choose a new Pres- 
i-dent, in 1872, Gree-ley was put up to run a-gainst Grant. 
Grant won by a large vote, and Gree-ley was so cast down 
by the loss of the race that his mind grew weak and he 
soon died. 

In 1876 there was a grand show at Phil-a-del-phi-a to 
keep the day on which the States were made free from 
Eng-land in 1776. All lands sent their best, and all 
trades of the world had a place there. The States felt 
proud at that time and glad that the Na-tion was one, at 
peace, and that so great a chief as Gen. U. S. Grant was 
in the chair. 

When the last term was up, Pres-i-dent Grant set out 
on a tour round the world. If he had been a king- more 
could not have been done for him. He made stanch 
friends in all lands, and brought home hosts of fine gifts. 



HORACE GREELEY 



L'LVSSKS S. (iRANT. 107 

Soon GcMi. Grant made a home in New \'ork and took 
up bank work to earn for his dear ones. A cheat got his 
weahh h^om him, and the: sad news came that he had lost 
all, was ill, and must soon die. He was brave and calm, 
and though in great pain, wrote up to a few days of his 
death that he might make a book of the wars in which he 
had part, so that his own might ha\'e the means to li\'e and 
and not come to want. 

Gen. Grant went to his rest Ju-ly 23, i<SS5, at Mount 
MacGreg-or, near Sar-a-to-ga, m tfie state ot New York, 
where he had gone so that he might |)ass in peace from 
earth. 

When the news w^ent through the land of the death of 
this great man, grief was felt by rich and poor. Black 
weeds of woe hung in the streets, while flags werd seen at 
half mast. 

Men who had once been foes took part m the march to 
the tomb. All sought then to show their pride in the man 
whose thought had been to "do right and fear not." Hiere 
was the beat of drums, the boom of guns, and the tramp, 
tramp of the men of arms. 

On the south wall of the grand tomb at Riv-er-side Park, 
on the Hud-son, New York Cit-y, there are seen the 
words which sj)eak to all hearts: 

"LET US HAVE PEACE." 




RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



IN i860, a Scotch-man, whose name was George Hayes, 
left his own land and came o'er the sea to Con-nect- 
i-cut where he made a home and was, in tmie, well off. 

One of the grand-sons of this George Hayes held the 
rank of Cap-tarn through the War of In-de-pen-dence. 
His great-grand-son, too, Ruth-er-ford, born Ju-ly 29th, 
1756, took up arms to free the land from Eng-land. 

This Ruth-er-ford Hayes, in 1779, wed Chlo-e Smith, 
and the fourth child of this pair took his fa-ther's name, 
Ruth-er-ford. He too was a Cap-tain in the state troops. 
In 181 3 he wed So-phi-a Bir-chard. 

Tales were told then of the great wealth to be won in 
the new lands of the West. Ruth-er-ford Hayes had 



rutiii:rfc)ru 15. haves. 109 

much thrift, and had made hirgc sums in his own state. 
IK' thought it well to sec these new lands where he might 
make more, so he set oft" on horse back, made a long trip, 
saw much to please him, and at last paid a large sum for a 
large tract m O-hi-o. 

To this place his wife and two babes, and the wife's 
broth-er, Sar-dis Bir-chard, went in 18 17. A fine brick 
house was built at the new place in 1822. That same year 
a son, Ruth-er-ford Bir-chard, was born. The fa-ther died 
then, and left his dear ones, by the aid of funds and lands, 
to go on m ease. 

The child, Rud-dy, was a bright, good boy. His moth- 
er taught him to read and spell. At five he went to 
school and did well with books, though he had great love 
for all the world out of doors. He had, from the start, a 
host of boy friends who would call for him to join them in 
all the sports they knew\ 

Greek and Lat-in were soon the boy's work and at the 
age of e-lev-en he was in Ken-yon Col-lege. He won 
first prizes and held high rank. When his four years 
course was at an end he took up law at Co-lum-bus, O-hi-o. 
The next year he went to the Law Scho(^l of Har-vard 
U-ni-ver-si-ty. In 1845 he was at the bar and in the courts 
of O-hi-o. In 1850 he was at work at law in Cin-cm-na-ti. 
In 1852 he w^ed a bright, sweet young girl, child of Dr. 
James Webb. All had pride in Lu-cy Hayes, and she 
did much good in her life. 

Hayes gave his vote for A-bra-ham Lm-coln. When 
the war broke out he was made Ma-jor of the 23rd O-hi-o, 
and set out for West Vir-gin-i-a. In the fall of the year 
1 86 1 he rose to the rank of lieu-ten-ant co-lon-el. The 



110 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 

next year he led a charge at South Mount-ain and got a 
bad wound in his left arm. Then he went up once more 
in rank. He did good work when he kept back the raid 
of Mor-gan's men and made them give up. 

In the first fight at Wm-ches-ter, Vir-gin-ia, Ju-ly 24, 
1864, Col. Hayes did brave deeds which gave great help 
to the cause of the North. The rank of Ma-jor Gen-er-al 
came to him for his war work m the Shen-an-do-ah Val-ley. 
Grant speaks of Hayes in the book he wrote of his own 
life, and gives him high praise. While still in the field, 
O-hi-o chose Hayes to send to Con-gress, where he staid 
from 1865 to 1867. For -three terms he held the chief 
post at the head of his own state. 

In 1877 Ruth-er-ford Bir-chard Hayes was made Pres-i- 
dent of the U-ni-ted States. It was thought, by some, 
that there was a fraud m the count of votes at this time, 
and that Sam-u-el J. Til-den, who had held the chief seat 
at the head of New York State, and would have made a 
good Pres-i-dent, had won, but at last Hayes was put in. 

Hayes held the chair from 1877 to 1881. It was a 
time more calm and still than had been known in the land 
since i860. The war was at an end and the hate and ill 
will which it made grew less each day. 

In 1877 the Nez Perce In-di-ans were told to go to a 
place which they did not like. War broke out. Pres-i- 
dent Hayes sent Gen. How-ard out to the far West to 
stop it. How-ard was brave and firm and, at last, put the 
red men to rout. 

That same year, in 1877, there were rail-road strikes in 
the warm months. Men would not work for the low sums 
which those at the head would like to m\'e them. Trains 



RUTIIKRI"ORD B. HAYES. Ill 

had to stop. For two weeks this state of thinjTs kej)t all 
in fear. Scores of men met their death at this time and 
there was i^reat loss in more ways than one. 

Then in 1878 the )el-low fe-ver fell on the states of the 
South. It was at its worst in Mem-phis and New Or- 
leans. The loss by death was so great that all who could 
do so left, for a while, that part of the land. Help of all 
sorts was sent to the South in that hour of their need. 

The coin bill made much talk at that time. It was 
thought that if hard coin were once more in the place of 
bank notes it would be a great helj). This work went on 
till a plan was made that would suit most. 

In the states on the West coast there were hordes of 
Chi-nese. They could live for far less than white men 
could, and so would work for less sums. White men had 
to bid low, and this was the cause of strife. In 1880 a 
rule was made that the Chi-nese should stay in their own 
land for a while. 

When his term was out the ex-Pres-i-dent went to his 
home at Fre-mont, O-hi-o. He took a large share in not 
a few plans which gave great help to those in jails, and to 
those in schools both of low and high grade. 

For eight years there was a glad home life with one of 
the best of wives, and their own boys and girls close to 
them. Then the o-ood wife went to her home on hioh. 
Four years more of life was left, and then, when but a 
short time ill, Ruth-er-ford B. Hayes met his death, Jan. 
17, 1893. 




M 



JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 

EN who bore the Sax-on name of Gar-field fought 

with Crom-well in Eng-land. The first Gar-field 

who came to this land was Ed-ward, who made a home at 

Wa-ter-town, Mass. There were sev-en Gar-fields who 

fought in the In-di-an wars, and five of them won high 

posts. 

When the war for A-mer-i-can In-de-pen-dence broke 

out, one of these Gar-fields, A-bra-ham by name, stood 

(jun in hand, at Con-cord Bridge, at sun rise on the morn 

of A-pril 19, 1775. His broth-er Sol-o-mon, a score and 

ten miles off, was on his way to the same spot ere noon, 

as soon as he heard the news that the long fight to be free 

from the yoke of Eng-land had made a start at Lex-ing-ton. 
112 



JAMES AHKAM G ARl' IlCI.lJ. 113 

Some years on, Sol-o-mon took up land near wliat is 
now Wor-ces-tor, cut down trees, and built a log house. 
Hewed a Hne, bright, )'oung gu-1 by the name of Hill. 
A son, strong, and with good looks, was born to this pair, 
and then the ia-ther died. The brave, young moth-er did 
all she could for her child. When the young man, who 
took the name of A-bram, was but half a score and nine 
years old he met E-li-za Bal-lou whom he wed. 

When the war of 1812, 'twixt the U-ni-ted States and 
Great Bnt-ain, broke out, E-li-za's broth-er, James, took a 
post with the troo{)s. WHien his term was out, in 18 14, 
he knew much of the wilds of O-hi-o. From that tract 
the A-mer-i-can rifle men drove out Te-cum-seh and his 
chiefs, and Proc-tor and his red coats. Then )()ung 
lames Bal-lou orot his moth-er and more kin to 00 out to 
O-hi-o. So the young pair, James and E-li-za Gar-field, 
took up their new home in tha-t state. A son came to 
bless their home in 1831. He was the last born of sev- 
er-al A-mer-i-can boys who made their way from log huts 
to the White House. Ere the babe, James A-bram Gar- 
field, w\as two years old, a great fire broke out in the woods 
near his home. His la-ther fought it to save his crop of 
wheat and when, at last, he put it dowm, though he was so 
strong and his frame so large, still a chill came on him and 
he died. This sad loss was a great blow, l)ut the young- 
wife took up the farm work where it had been left, and 
sold off part of the land to pay for the rest on which there 
was a debt. Her own sheep gave wool for clothes, and 
food came in the fields near her home. 

James had been taught to read and write by his moth-er. 
She, too, could tell him tales of the good and i^reat man of 



114 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

the land, and what they had done in hfe. He was fond 
of books from the start. He went to work when quite 
young to earn for his moth-er. He knew the use of tools 
and soon got on so well that he had the means to buy 
books and fit for Hi-ram Col-lege, where he went in 185 i. 
As his sums did not last out, he paid his way by care for 
the fires ; he rang the bell, too, swept the floor, and did all 
the work he could find to help on the good cause. In 
1854 he was fit for Will-iams Col-lege, which was then in 
charge of Dr. Mark Hop-kins. At that time he could 
preach and thus earn sums so that he might stay to the 
end of his course. 

In 1858 Gar-field wed Miss Ru-dolph whom he had 
known a long time. He was then put in charge of Hi-ram 
Col-lege and did well there. His state sent him to the 
Sen-ate but still he kept his school work. 

When the first fire of the Sum-ter gun was heard in the 
land and the Pres-i-dent made his call for men, Gar-field 
left his books, made a speech at Hi-ram, and in two scores 
and eight hours troops were made up. Gar-field put at 
their head, and, in De-cem-ber 1861, the 42nd O-hi-o set 
out for Ken-tuck-y. 

All Gar-field's work was of the best and he went up 
from post to post. He was made Chief of Staff of the 
" Ar-my of the Cumberland " and rose to the rank of 
Ma-jor-Gen-er-al. He was in Con-gress from 1863 to 1881. 
He was made U-ni-ted States Sen-a-tor in 1881, and that 
same year was the choice of the land for the Pres-i-dent's 
chair. 

The Gar-fields gave up their plain home in Wash-ing- 
ton, and with their five young folks went to the White 



JAMI-.S AHRAM GARFIKI.D. 115 

House. Prcs-i-(lcnt IIa\'cs drove with Gar-field on the 
da\' of days, when he was to take his scat. Both tliese 
men had fine looks and had come fi'om the same state. 

\^ir-o^in-ia had been said to be the " Moth-cr of Pres-i- 
deiits," l)ut for the third time, now, the chair had been 
held b\- a man born and bred m Odii-o. Each of these 
men had been in the Ar-my through the Civ-il War, and 
had w^on name and fame on hard foui^ht fields. 

Gar-field made a ime speech when his' hour came. He 
told of all it was his wish to do for the good of the land. 
The men he chose for high posts were some of the best. 
One of these was James G. Blaine. Then there was 
Thom-as L. James, who was at the head of the Post Of- 
fice work. All w^ere stanch and true. 

In four months from the day Gar-field was made Pres-i- 
dent, while he and Mr. Blaine were just to start off on a 
short trip, and w^ent arm in arm through the main room of 
the de-pot at Wash-ing-ton, the sound of a shot rang out 
on the air. One more of these came and then the Pres-i- 
dent sank to the floor. The first ball had done no harm 
but the next was a wound to death. For long weeks the 
Pres-i-dent had to bear great pain as he lay on his bed in 
the White House. All hearts were sad. 

With the hope that the sea air would do him good he 
went to El-be-ron, New Jer-sey, and there drew his last 
breath, Sept. 19, 1881. 

In lands o'er the sea as well as in this, hearts went out 
in grief to those the good Pres-i-dent had left. His name 
stands high on the scroll of fame. 




CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 



AN-TRIM, Ire-land, was the home of Will-iam Ar-thur, 
who took up book work when quite young, and went 
to Bel-fast Col-lege. Law was his first choice, but at last 
he made up his mind to preach. He came to this land 
and found his first church charge in the state of New York. 
Here, too, he wed a young girl by the name of Stone. 
1 heir next home was at Fair-field, Ver-mont. Here, in 
1830, was born a son, Ches-ter Al-an Ar-thur. In a short 
time the Ar-thurs went back to New York, this time to 
Green-wich, where firm friends were made who were theirs 
through life. Some of these friends were on the side of the 
slave and did not want the blacks bought and sold. So, 
from his youth, Ches-ter heard words which sank deep in 



LIIKSTKR ALAN ARIIHR 117 

Ills heart and bore Iruit in \cars to conic. lie was fond 
of books, and did so well with tluin that when not (|uite 
fif-teen years old he went to Ihi-ion C ol-leg-e and took lii<>h 
lank at once. Me went through all tin? course there in 
three years. Then he taught school so that he could earn 
sums to help him take uj) law. In 1854 he was at the bar, 
and made a start of his own with an old friend in New 
York. 

Ar-thur won a suit in New ^^)rk, in 1856, which a-a\-e 
the blacks the right to ride in street cars with the whites. 

It was soon plain that there would be need of men of 
arms once more in the land, and to Chcs-ter A. Ar-thur 
came the trust of the state troops. He took up this work 
with zeal and when the call for men came, from Pres-i-dent 
Lin-coln, the New York troops were in trim to start, thouo^h, 
in spite of all this, the Mas-sa-chu-setts 6th was the first on 
the held. Ar-thur then went up from post to post and 
was of great help to the Un-ion Cause. 

In 1881 Gen. Ar-thur was made Vice-Pres-i-dent of this 
land, and Pres-i-dent on the death of Ciar-held. 

While Pres-i-dent Ar-thur was in the chair there came, 
at York-town, a glad day to show that 100 \'ears had gone 
by since Corn-wal-lis, the head of the Brit-ish troops, had 
held out the white flag as a sign that he and his force 
would gi\'e in to the A-mer-i-cans and the b^rench who 
were with them. 

Good times now came, crops were large, and mines rich. 
The blacks did far more work now that they were free than 
they had done when they were slaves. All things went 
on so well that At-lan-ta gave a fine show that all might 
see the great gain the South had made since 1865. 




1,8 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

The work to pay off the debt had gone on so fast that 
the debt was now but haff as large as at the end of the 
war. It was then found that the whole sum could not be 
paid off so fast as it had been thought it might be. The 

theme of Free Trade came up and 
there was much talk pro and con. 

It was said that a ring of men 
had made use of some ol our mails 
to cheat the Gov-ern-ment. This 
went by the name of the great 
Star Route Case. It came to a 
close in 1884 and the men were let 
off 

As his term came near its end it 
was thought that Gen. Ar-thur's 
name might come up once more, 
but the great James G. Blaine, who for more than a score 
of years had held a high place in the rule of the land, was 
the choice of that side. By some split his chance was lost, 
and for the first time since 1857 a Dem-o-crat took the 
chair. 

Gen. Ar-thur went back to his law work in New York. 
It was thought that there were long years for him to 
work and still be of use in the world. But it was not so 
to be. His life task came to an end Nov. 18, 1886. 

Men who had been with Pres-i-dent Ar-thur in Wash- 
ing-ton, and more who thought much of him, came to the 
last rites, and stood with bare heads by the side of the bier. 
There were Pres-i-dent Cleve-land, Chief Jus-tice Waite, 
Gen. Sher-man, Gen. Sher-i-dan, Ex-Pres-i-dent Hayes, 
James G. Blaine, and a long list of great men. 



JAMES G. BLAINE. 




G 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 

FIRST TERM. 

RO-VER CLEVE-LAND was born in New Jer-sey, 

March i8, 1837. 
The first Cleve-land in A-mer-i-ca came from Suf-folk, 
Eng-land, in 1635, ^"<^^ made a home at Wo-burn, Mass. 
Rich-ard, the fa-ther of Gro-ver, got through his w^ork at 
Yale \n 1S24, and made it his hfe task to preach the Word 
of God. In 1S29 Rich-ard Cleve-land wed An-ne Neal, 
whose fa-ther w^as of I-rish birth. When Gro-ver was four 
years old he went with his par-ents to live in Fay-ette-ville 
near Syr-a-cuse, N. Y. There the boy went to school for 
nine years. Next he was clerk in a store, and in a short 
tmie his folks went to a new home in On-ei-da Coun-ty, 
where Gro-ver had more school days. 

119 



120 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

The fa-ther soon fell ill and died. Young Gro-ver felt 
then that he must set forth and earn bread for his dear 
ones. He found work in the " Home for the Blind," in 
New York Cit-y. While there he made up his mind to 
learn law, and went to one of his kin in Buf-fa-lo who found 
him a place where he could do this. At the same time he 
gave his help on a book at which his uncle. Lew-is F. 
Al-len, was at work. This was the "A-mer-i-can Herd 
Book," and the $60. which came to him as pay he sent to 
his moth-er. Soon he got a place with a law firm and 
read " Black-stone." 

In 1859 Gro-ver Cleve-land was at the bar, though he 
staid three years more with the same firm and had sums 
from his work there with which he could help his kin. 
Two of his broth-ers went to the war and it was Gro-ver's 
wish to help bear arms for the good of his land, but he 
was the sole son from whom aid could come and he felt 
that it would not be right to leave those who had need of 
him. Still he did what he could and found one who would 
loan him funds by which he could send a man to do what 
he would like to have done. It was years ere he could 
pay back the loan, but he did it, at last. 

As time went on Cleve-land came to be known as a man 
who knew the law well. He had charge of more than one 
great case, and won fame. 

In 1 88 1 he had a high post in Buf-fa-lo. Men of all 
sides gave him their vote. In 1883 he had one more high 
post, that of head of his state. His means were still small, 
and he kept to his plain ways and did not run in debt. 
He did hard work at all times for the good of the poor as 
well as for the rich. There were times when he would sit 



CROVKR CLK\'1-:LA.\'D. 1-21 

Up all ni(rht to find out just what it was best to do in some 
case. He was just and true and made his way ste|) by 
step. 

In 1SS5 Ciro-\er C1e\ e-land was made Pres-i-dent. 
Trom the time of W'ash-m^-ton it had been a rule for the 
Pres-i-dent, as he took the oath, to kneel and kiss the 
\\ ord of God, a lar^e Bi-ble, which lay on a stand near 
by. Gro-\er Cleve-land made a change in this, for it was 
his wish to kiss a small Bi-ble which had been his moth- 
er's and had been. kept with him since he was a small boy. 
The speech which he made at this time was one all were 
glad to hear. 

As Pres-i-dent Cleve-land drove back from the Cap-i-tol 
to the White House, through the long lines of troops and 
friends, the crowd was glad to see his calm, plain way. 
Pride and vain thoughts w^ere far from him. 

Miss Rose Cleve-land, the Pres-i-dent's sis-ter, was the 
" La-dy of the White House," and made scores of friends 
and was a great help to her broth-er. 

One (lav the Pres-i-dent took a friend throug^h the 
White House. In the room where the chief slept, near 
his bed, the friend saw a quaint sign or crest. It set forth 
" Life, Du-ty, and Death." These words, too, were seen 
on the shield ; " As thy days are, so shall thy strength be." 
" If I have a coat of arms it is thatl' said Mr. Cleve-land. 
" I chose it )ears a-go, and keep it by me." 

The hrst bill for Pres-i-dent Cle\'e-land to sign was one to 
which he was glad to put his name. It seems that the 
last Act of the Con-gress which came to an end at noon 
of March 4, 18S4, had been to pass a bill to place Gen. 
U. S. Grant on the " Re-tired List of the Ar-mv. ' The 



122 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 



bill was passed in time for Pres-i-clent Ar-thur to sign it, 
but through good will for Mr. Cleve-land he left the hon-or 
to him. This bill gave aid to the great man then in his 

old age, poor, and in debt; ill, though 
hard at work to earn bread for those 
dear to him. 

Cleve-land's old plan of hard work 
stood him in good stead in his new 
post. Hordes of men made a rush 
for posts which paid large sums. 
When they did not get these they 
found fault, but the Pres-i-dent was 
firm, and kept at his toil, while the 
whole land was at peace and things 
went well. 

In 1886 the great Bar-thol-di stat- 
ue was set up in New York Bay. It 
was a gift from France, and shows 
Lib-er-ty with a torch in her hand, 
as if to give light with its rays to all 
the world. 

On June 2, 1886, Pres-i-dent Cleve- 
land was wed to a sweet young girl, 
Miss Fran-ces Fol-som. This took place at the White 
House, and was the first wed-ding of a Pres-i-dent in that 
house. O'er all the land was good will and kind thoughts 
for the young pair. The bride won all hearts. 

When Cleve-land's first term was out, the friends of 
James G. Blaine of Maine would have been glad to have 
made him the next chief, but Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son took 
the chair, March 4, 1889. 




BARTHOLDIS STATUE OF LIBERTY. 




BENJAMIN HARRISON. 

BEN-JA-MIN HAR-RI-SOiN was the third son of 
John Scott Har-ri-son and grand son of Will-iam 
Hen-ry Har-ri-son, the ninth Pres-i-dent of the U-ni-ted 
States. His km m this land came down m a straight hne 
from John Rolfe \vho wed Poc-a-hon-tas, child of the red 
chief Pow-hat-an, at James-town, Vir-gin-ia, A-pril, 1614. 

Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son's great grand-fa-ther was one of 
the men sent to the Con-gress which made the " Dec-la-ra- 
tion of In-de-pen-dence." The Har-ri-sons had large tracts 
of land on the banks of the O-hi-o. As a young boy 
Ben-ja-min did work on his fa-ther's farm. Each year the 
crops were sent in flat boats to New Or-leans, and fa-ther 
and son, and men to help the work, went with them. 



124 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

At first the lad, Ben-ja-min was sent to a log house 
school. Here he was made fit for Bel-mont col-lege. 
Two years more saw him at Mi-a-mi U-ni-ver-si-ty, Ox-ford. 
At this place he met Miss Scott, who, in time, came to be 
his wife. 

Har-ri-son took up law but ere he came to the bar he 
was wed to the girl of his choice when he was but a score 
of years old. 

From the first it was plain that he had the gift of speech 
and a fine voice. These were a great help to him as he 
made his way m the world. Those for whom he did law 
work could count on hmi at all times to do his best. In 
1855 he was one of a strong law firm and work came in 
fast. He had all sorts of cases and won name and fame 
in In-di-an-a, where he had made his home. He did not 
care how hard his work was, for by it he could earn sums 
to pay for the neat house where he and his young wife had 
gone to live. 

When the war broke out Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son gave his 
help to raise men for the " 70th In-di-an-a." At first he 
had a low post with these troops, but he went up so fast 
that he was soon at their head. He did brave work in 
all the fights and staid to the end of the war, when he -was 
Brior-a-dier Gen-er-al. His men thouoht much of him, 
and, as he was quite small, gave him the pet name of 
" Lit-de Ben." 

When he got home from the war. Gen. Har-ri-son took 
up his law work once more. Soon his state sent him to the 
Sen-ate, and there he was known as one who was not for 
" Free Trade." He took hiorh rank as a man who could 
make a good speech^ and he found scores of friends. As 



]!l':\JAiMlX HARRISON. 125 

one who had fought all through the war he knew of how 
uuieh use the " pen-sion " would he to men who had lost 
health and strength on the held and of its worth to the kin 
of these men, and he saitl so when in the Sen-ate. It was 
his wish too that there might he more ships of war, and the 
na-vy might be made strong, as the lands o'er the seas had 
made theirs strong. 

In 1889 Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son was made Pres-i-dent and 
sworn in, March 4 of that year. James G. Blaine held a 
high place near his chief, and so did John Wan-a-mak-er. 

The last two days ol A-pnl, '89 it was thought fit to 
keep in a way that would mark the great changes that had 
been made in the land in the 100 years which had gone 
by since George Wash-ing-ton was the first chief In 
New York City the " Wash-ing-ton Cen-ten-ni-al" was 
held. Pres-i-dent Har-ri-son and his friends went to the 
place w^here Gen-er-al Wash-ing-ton took his oath to serve 
as Pres-i-dent. Har-ri-son spoke there in his fine, strong 
\'oice, and said words which brought out cheers from those 
who heard him. 

The streets were full of troops and long trains of men 
took up the march, past hou-ses and stores where flags and 
wreaths were seen. Young school girls in white spread 
flow-ers in the path of the Pres-i-dent, as had been done in 
Wash-ing-ton's time. Fire works at night were sent off at 
points through the town, and large sums were spent for 
floats on which men were seen at work at trades. Long 
lines of men from lands o'er the seas, who had come 
here to make their homes and help in all our good work, 
were on the march, side by side, in the garb of the Swiss, 
the French, the Ger-man. and more. 



126 LIVES OF TH'E PRKSIDKNTS. 

A large tract of land, known as Ok-la-ho-ma, had been 
bought from the In-di-ans but had not yet been made free 
to white men. A time was set, A-pril 22, 1889, at noon, 
when men could go in and take the land. No one v/as to 
be let m till then, and those who were first there to make 
claims to farms and lots were to get them. This caused a 




RUSH OF THE BOOMERS INTO OKLAHOMA. 



vast crowd of " boom-ers," as they were called, to line up 
at the bounds of Ok-la-ho-ma, and when the hour was up, 
there was a great cloud of dust, and a wild rush of hoofs, 
wheels, and feet. By the time night fell, towns had been 
laid out, and a start made to build them. In no part of 
the land up to this time had so swift a growth been seen. 

In De-cem-ber, 1889, the " McKin-ley Tar-iff Bill" was 
made a law^ The " Behr-ing Sea Trea-ty " was made a 
law, too, in Har-ri-son's time. This put a stop to the 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 1'27 

work done by scores of ships from all lands which were 
wont to go to the sea and isles near A-las-ka to kill seals. 

The men ot the North, once the " Boys in Blue," had a 
strong friend in the Pres-i-dent, and the new " Pen-sion 
Bill" went through. This had Con-gress pay more sums 
each month of their lives to those who had l)een hurt m 
the war. 

In 1 89 1 two great men of this land went to their last 
home ; these were Ad-mi-ral Por-ter, and Gen-er-al Sher- 
man who made that " March to the Sea." 

In 1892 four hun-dred )'ears had gone by since Chris- 
to-pher Co-lumd:)us first saw A-mer-i-ca. A great show 
of all the work of the world was held at Chi-ca-go. Pres- 
i-dent Har-ri-son went there for the start, and made a fine 
speech. 

Wdien his term was out Gen. Har-ri-son went to his 
home in In-di-an-ap-o-lis and took up law work. Two 
chil-dren were left him but both had homes of their own. 

The good wife of Gen. Har-ri-son had died in 1892. 
In the spring of 1896, he wed his first wife's niece, Ma-ry 
L. Dim-mock. 

In 1897 "This Coun-ti')' ot Ours," was brought out, a 
book on which the ex-Chief had spent much time and 
thought. 

Gen. Har-ri-son died March 13, 1901, 




THE CHICAGO WORLDS FAIR ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 

SECOND TERM— 1893 TO 1897. 

ONCE more there was a loud call for Cleve-lantl, and 
from 1893 to 1897 he held the chair. 

The orreat Pair at Chi-ca-fjo at that time had a claim on 
the thoughts of all through the land, and vast throngs 
went there. Lake Mich-i-gan had boats of all sorts, some 
of them most strange craft from lands o'er the sea. There 
were white buildings for miles and miles, full of choice 
thmgs from all parts of the world. At night bright lights 
shone out and made a scene of great charm. 

Queer beasts came from the far East, and some of them 



ti ROVER CLKVELAND. 129 

could do the tricks which those in charge told them to do. 
Li-ons rode on horse back and could jump ropes. Boys 
and girls found that they might ha\e rides on backs ot 
cam-els, and this they did each day of the Tair. They 




UTW '"^-'^~'^~ 



THE CHICAGO WORLDS TAIR. MACHINERY BUILDING 



went, too, where men made goods of all sorts in shops. 
They saw Turks, Greeks, Chi-nese, In-di-ans, cow-boys, 
folks from all climes, who spoke all tongues, did fine woA, 
and sold choice goods. 

Pres-i-dent Clex'e-land was at the k\air and made a 
speech in the si)ring of 1893, when the time came to let 
folks in. 



130 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

In the warm months of 1893 "hard times" came. 
Goods went down to a low price, and scores of shops had 
to close, while hosts of men were thrown out of work. 
There were strikes in coal mines, and on one great coal 




TKE CHICAGO WORLD'S FAJR. GRAND BASIN AND COURT OF HONOR. 



rail-road. This brought grief to those who had to toil 
with their hands. 

Soon all sides came to see that " hon-est money " was 
best, and that all that took the place of gold should be of 
the same worth as gold. 

At At-lan-ta, Geor-gi-a, in 1895, there was a fine show, 
and it was good to see there proofs of what the South had 



GROVER CLKV1-:LAM). 181 

(lone Miicc the war. Cot-ton was made up in scores of 
forms ; coal and i-ron from mmes near I)\- told ot wealth. 
The work of those who were once slaves was shown at 
this Fair. The states of the South o^ave lar""e sums to 
train these blacks in schools, and it was plain to see that 
some of them had made o()()d use of their chance. 

In 1S96, U-tah came to join the Un-ion and there are 
now 45 States. In the last ten years there has been great 
growth m the " New West." Miles and miles of rail-roads 
now run through there. Grain farms yield food on a big 
scale. Mines ot gold, sil-\'er, and co})-per gl\'e great wealth. 
Tons of beef, pork, and mut-ton are sent from the rich 
grass of the West to all parts of the earth. 

Gro-ver Cleve-land has l^een a man of clear, brave, 
strong thought and speech both while in and while out of 
the chair. He was the sole man to be put up for chief 
three times right off, and that, too, by men who did not all 
think as he did. When his last term was out, though 
some who were his friends at first did not stand by him, 
still, through the land, there was high praise of him. 

Cle\e-land was the first Pres-i-dent to be wed in the 
White House, and was, too, the first wdio had a child born 
there. No " First La-dy in the Land," save Dol-ly Mad-i- 
son, had been so young as his w^ife. 

One of the last acts of Mr. Cleve-land while Pres-i-dent 
was to speak at the U-ni-ver-si-ty at Prince-ton. The old 
town had so much charm lor him that, with his owmi, he 
has made his home there since he left the chair. 




WILLIAM McKINLEY. 



A CLEAR trace of the Mc Kin-leys comes all the way 
down from 1547 m which year they were known in 
Scot-land. The first of them in this land made a home at 
York, Penn-syl-va-ni-a, where his son Da-vid, great grand 
fa-ther of the Pres-i-dent was born in 1755. This Da- 
vid took part in the "War of In-de-pen-dence." His son 
James went to O-hi-o in 1809 when Will-iam, fa-ther of 
the Pres-i-dent was not cjuite two years old. This Will- 
iam grew up in the West and found a wife in Nan-cy 
All-i-son, of Scotch-Dutch stock, that came to A-mer-i-ca 
with Will-iam Penn. The erand fa-ther of this wife 
was a stern man who thouo^ht we must be free come what 
might. He took part in the Rev-o-lu-tion. 



WILLIAM McKIXLLV. 133 

The sc\-cnth child ot W'ill-iam and Nan-cy McKin-lcy 
was l)()rn Jan. 29, 1S43, at Nilcs, O-hi-o. He, too, had 
the name of \\ ill-iam, and, in time came to be the 25th 
man who was Pres-i-dent of the U-ni-ted States. 

Tlie lad, W'ill-iam, went to the free schools of Niles till 
he was nine years old, then his folks took him to a new- 
home at Po-land, in the same state, where he found a 
school ol high oradc, and staid there a few years. When 
(jLiite young he t(M)k the vows of the Meth-o-chst church 
and kept them all his life. He taught school as a youth, 
and was, too, a clerk in the Po-land Post Of-hce. 

When the war hrokc out, in 1861, 3'oung McKindey, 
still in his teens, gave up his work and went with the 
troops, in the " 23d Odii-o," to the seat of war. He was 
one of the rank and file at first, hut was brave, rose fast, 
and when the war w^as at an end, came out " Bre-vet Ma- 
jor." He fought for the old flag with great zeal He felt 
that he must do this though he did not love war. All 
tales which are told ol his days on the field go to show the 
worth of the man and what a help he was to the cause ot 
right. 

When peace came, Ma-jor Mc Kin-ley went to Can-ton 
and took up law. In 1869 he wed Miss I-da Sax-ton of 
the same town. In 1877 the bright young man-at-law was 
sent to Con-gress. He thought much on what was best 
for the land, and when he spoke on a theme he did so in 
a way to show that he meant what he said. In 1891 he 
was Gov-ern-or of O-hi-o. 

Free Trade McKin-ley did not like. He felt that it 
would be best to keep cheap goods out of our land and so 
he made a bill which bore his name and it came to be a law. 



13i LIVES OF THE I'RESIDENTS. 

On March 4, 1898, Pres-i-dent McKin-ley took his 
seat as head of the land. The next year, 1898, came the 
war with Spain. 

Cii-ba, an isle near the U-ni-ted States, felt that she must 
be free from Spain whose yoke had been a hard one for 
years and years. The Cu-bans had been kept down and 
large sums ground out of them and sent to Spain while 
there was great need of funds right in their own isle. 

The U-ni-ted States thought it a shame for poor Cu-ba 
to have so hard a time, and some said we ought to make 
Spain let Cu-ba go free. There was much talk back and 
forth. 

Just then a shock came. One of our fine ships ot war, 
the Maine, which had been sent to Ha-va-na as a guard 
to A-mer-i-cans who were there, was blown up in the night 
of Feb. 15, 1898. Of the men on board, 259 lost their 
lives. 

To be sure that the ship was not blown up by chance, 
men were sent to find out, and all went to show that it 
had been done from the out-side. 

" This means war ! " was heard on all sides. The Pres- 
i-dent then made it plain that this land was in no shape to 
wage war on e'en such a na-tion as Spain was. Then a 
great sum was put in the Chief's hands. Our whole land 
stood as one in this. The trust in Will-iam McKin-ley 
was such that the whole North, South, East and West 
said, " He knows what to do." "We will do what he asks 
us to." 

The Pres-i-dent made a call for troops. They came at 
his word. Soon it was march, drill, and tram for the work 
they had to do. 



WILLIAM McKLXLKV. 1:55 

Strange it was that the first orcat fight was miles and 
miles off both fi'om the U-ni-ted States and Cu-ba. In 
Chi-na, at Hong Kong, was an A-mer-i-can fieet in charge 
of Com- mo-(l(M-e Ck-orge Dew-ey who had fought in the 
Civ-il War and was a man of (|uick thought and deed. 




DESTRUCTION OF THE 



He got word that a fleet of Spain was at Ma-nida, the 
chief town of the Phil-ip-pine Isles. He went there and 
reached the mouth of the Bay of Ma-nida late on the 
night of A-pril 30, 1898. He got by the forts and at dawn 
next day found that fleet of Spain for which he had been 
sent. 



136 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Soon the ships in both fleets went to work. Guns were 
brought to bear, and the forts gave all the help they could 
for Spain. Dew-ey kept his ships on the move so that 
they were not good marks for shots, while they could, at 
the same time fire at the foe. This went on for two hours, 
when the day was won. All the ships of that fleet of 

i Spain were burnt or sunk. On 
■ the A-mer-i-can side not a man 
met death and not a ship was 
hurt ! This was high praise for 
Dew-ey and the Stars and Stripes. 
To lose her fleet was a big blow 
to Spain, but there was more woe 
in store for her. While our troops 
were made fit for war with all 
speed, the North At-lan-tic Squad- 
ron, with Com-mo-dore Samp-son 
at its head, was sent south to shut 
up Ha-van-a and near by ports. 
Ships and troops were sent to San-ti-a-go, in Cu-ba, May 
and June. The last of May our ships found out that a 
fleet of Spain was in San-ti-a-go Bay. They kept it shut 
up there more than a month. That it might not come out. 
Hob-son and his brave men sunk a large coal ship in its 
way. But on Ju-ly 3, the ships of Spain got out and tried 
to steam off down the coast. They could not do it. Our 
fleet sank or drove all of them on shore. 

Late in June a force of troops lought the foe on land, 
took their forts, and drew near the old town. At last, with 
some aid from our fleet, San-ti-ag-o was won, and our 
troops sent up the Stars and Stripes in the town on Ju-ly i 7. 




ADMIRAL DEWEY 



WILLIAM .\kKlNLi;\'. 137 

Then Cicn. Miles went to Por-to Ri-co with tr()()i)s and 
soon that isle ot vSpam was \n our hands. 

Spam and the I'-ni-tcd States then said they would 
cease to tight. 

Five men from each side met at Par-is, and h\' the terms 




rHE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY 



of peace which they made Spain let Cudja go free. 
U-ni-ted States got Por-to Ri-co, Guam, the large 
the La-drones, and all the Phil-ip-pine Isles. 

Pres-i-dent McKin-lcy saw that there was much 
done in the Phil-ip-pines. He sent wise men to M 
to find out just what it was best to do for the good 



The 

isle in 

to be 

a-ni-la 

of all 



138 



LIVKS OF THE I'RESIDENTS. 

in those far off isles. But there were some in the Phil-ip- 
pines who did not wish to yield to these kind plans, and, 
led by one A-gui-nal-do, they made plots and a long war. 
The U-ni-ted States had to send a big force to put them 
down. 




THE BATTLE WITH THE SPANISH FLEET AT SANTIAGO 



In the spring of 1900, A-mer-i-can troops had to be 
sent to Chi-na to help save folks of our own land who 
might be hurt in the " Box-ers' Up-rise." Pres-i-dent Mc- 
Kin-ley had his own good sense and did the right thing. 
While some lands would haxe bro-ken up Chi-na, Mc- 
Kin-le\' said: " No, this must not be done, \\hile we 



WILLIAM McKLXLKV. 139 

must make Chi-na do her du-ty, \vc must hclj) her as well 
to hold her own." 

On March 4, 1901, once more Pres-i-dent McKin-ley, 
for whom all the world now had praise, took the oath, 
held the chair, and went on with his work. 

On Sept. 5, I 90 1, Pres-i-dent and Mrs. McKin-ley went 
to the Pan-A-mer-i-can Fair at Butda-lo. Crowds came 
to take the hand ot the ^reat and oood ehief. While he 
stood, with a hri^ht smile on his face and kind words on 
his lips for both j)oor and rich, a bad man shot him. At 
first it was thought the l^res-i-dent would live, and all that 
skill could do was done for him, but in a week's time it 
was known that all hope was gone. Pie knew that his end 
was near, said fare-well to his wife and friends, then, in a 
faint voice, gave a few words of the hymn, " Near-er m)' 
God, to Thee." Once more words came from his lips, 
" Good-by all, good-by. It is God's way. His will be 
done, not ours." 

Ere the dawn ot the morn of Sept. 14 came, the pure, 
great soul of W ill-iam Mckin-ley had gone to the " Home 
of the Blest." 

News of this death brought a deep grief to the whole 
land. 

When the time came for the sad rites at the last place 
of rest, the whole Na-tion stood still to weep and pray. 
All trains, boats, bells, wires, cars, came to a stop, and a 
deep pall of gloom was o'er the land. 

Prom o'er the seas came words which told how much 
the dead chief was thought of, and how well it was known 
that m him who had gone to his rest the world had lost a 
great, wise, true, and just man. 




THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



THE first Roose-velt in this land was Claas Mar-ten- 
sen Van Roose-velt, who came here from Hol-land, 
with his wife, m 165 i. 

The Roose-velts who came down from this pair took 
part in all the wars of the land, from the In-di-an times 
down to the late war with Spain. They were known as 
men of worth and stood for all that was best in the land. 
They were at the head of banks, rail-roads, steam-boat 
lines, homes for the poor and sick, the " News Boys' Lodg- 
ing House," "Young Men's Chris-tian As-so-ci-a-tion," 
" Chil-dren's Aid So-ci-e-ty," " Un-ion League Club,"" Aid 
ibr Fam-i-lies of Un-ion Sol-diers," and had a hand in most 
of the eood work in A-mer-i-ca. A street in New York 

140 



TllKODORK RUOSEVKLT. 1-il 

Clt-y l)cars the name of Roosc-velt antl runs lli rough what 
was once the old honic-stcad. 

Thc-o-dorc Roosc-vclt, who came to be Pres-I-dent when 
McKindev was shot, was horn in New York, Oct. 27, 
1858. Young The-o-dore, as a child was frail but he was 
brought up by health laws and so from year to year grew 
strong. He soon could run, ride, swim, and tramj). He 
was fond, too, of books and made good use of them. 
When (juite Noung he went with his la-ther to I^u-ro{)e. 
In 1875 he was in Har-ward CoMege. 

He stood well there in class and in games, and came 
out in 1880, lit for the wn)rk he was to do in the world. 
In 1 88 1 he made his first trip to the Great West. It was 
his wish to see some of the rude life there ere it should 
pass by. He was just in time for the last big buf-fado 
hunt in which the Sioux and whites took part. 

At a score and three years of age Mr. Roose-velt took 
up law with his un-cle Rob-ert B. Roose-velt. He then, 
too, gave much thought to the lues of men who had done 
good work in the world and he read much of wars, their 
cause, and how best to plan them. He wrote at this time 
his " Na-val W^ar of 18 12," and books which could rouse 
young men to brave deeds. He took part in all that 
would be a help to his state, for he saw that it had need of 
good work. He soon knew what men he could trust and 
whom he must Hght. A high post came to him and he 
did so well in it that in a }ear's time he was known ail 
through the land as a strong force for the right and for 
those who could not help them-selves. 

Out door life was dear to Mr. Roose-velt. He had, 
too, a great love for the Far W^est, and so, while in his 



14-2 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

third term in the " N. Y. State As-sem-bly," he bought a 
ranch in North Da-ko-ta where there were all sorts of big 
(jame. Books went out there with him. Tales of wild 
beasts, words of Burns, the poet of the soil, Foe and his 
weird themes, and not a few more. He found joy in ranch 
life and wrote " Hunt-ing Trips of a Ranch-man," " Ranch 
Life and the Hunt-ing Trail," "The Wil-der-ness Hun- 
ters," and more books, which are known on both sides of 
the At-lan-tic and have brought him much fame. 

Pres-i-dent Mc Kin-ley sent for The-o-dore Roose-velt to 
come to Wash-ing-ton in 1897 and be " As-sist-ant Sec-re- 
ta-ry of the Na-vy." Mr. Roose-velt took the post and at 
once made it his task to learn just what there was to do. 
He saw that there was a great lack of ships. He knew, 
in case of war, the U-ni-ted States could not hold her own 
with a foe o'er the sea. He did his best to make the new 
war ships fit for work as soon as they could be, and he had 
old ships put in good shape. He saw the war with Spain 
on its way a year ere it broke out. All the year of 1897 
the " As-sist-ant Sec-re-ta-ry " was hard at work. He chose 
the men who were to come to the fore on the ships in that 
war with Spain. 

When war was at hand, Mr. Roose-velt could not rest in 
such a post. " There is more for me to do," he said. " I 
must go and fight." He was told to stay at Wash-ing-ton, 
and that he was the man for the place, and if he left he 
would spoil his chance. Words like these could not stop 
him. He felt that he had a call to the field and that he 
could be of use there. He gave up his post, was sworn in 
as " Lieut. Col. of U. S. Vol-un-teers." Men came to join 
him from all parts : cow-boys from the plains of the West, 



THKODORK ROOSEVELT. 143 

men from schools and col-lc-gcs, from the i)o-hcc force of 
New York, from hioh j)osts in hfe, and all were strong, lit 
for the hard work the}' had to do, and were true " Rough 
Ri-ders." Ihey were ol great aid as j)art of the force ot 
(^en. Shal-ter which took the forts near San-ti-a-go. W^hen 
tliey came home m mid-Au-gust they and their colon-el 
were the pride and joy of the land. 

While Roose-velt was still in Cu-ba there rose a boom 
to make him Gov-ern-or of New York. When but a few 
weeks back from the war, Mr. De-pew brought up his 
name in a fine speech which told how true and brave a 
man he was, and what help it would be to have such a 
man at the head of the state of New York. 

While still Gov-ern-or of New York, Roose-velt was 
put up to be Vice-Pres-i-dent when the votes were to be 
cast for ]\Ic Kin-ley as Pres-i-dent one more term. Each 
won the place by a large vote. 

When they had been at their posts but two days more 
than six months, a scamp shot Pres-i-dent Mc Kin-ley. 
Eight da}'s went by, and then McKin-ley died, and all the 
land was in grief 

Roose-velt came at once from the North Woods, and, 
b)' the law, though sad at heart, was sworn in as chief in 
Mc Kin-ley's place, on Sept. 14, 1901. 

Since Pres-i-dent Roose-velt came to the chair, Cu-ba 
has come to her own, has been made free to i)lan her own 
wa)s. 

When the end of the war with Spain came, Cu-ba was 
not at once in its own charge. W^ell nigh four years it 
was in the hands of the U-ni-ted States, and much good 
was done there by our men in the wa)' of plans for the 



144 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

health of the towns and for good schools. At last, on May 
20, 1902, Cii-ba made Es-tra-da Palma its Pres-i-dent, and 
put men of its own choice in posts to help keep Free Cu- 
ba sound and strong. 

Pres-i-dent Roose-velt will help on, as fast as he can, 
the plan to cut a great way for ships from the At-lan-tic 
to the Pa-ci-fic which will give a straight line by sea from 
our east coast to the west coast of both North and South 
A-mer-i-ca. 

By Judy 14, 1902, peace was on so firm ground in the 
Phil-ip-plnes that Pres-i-dent Roose-velt saw that it was 
safe to bring the rule of our troops there to an end. So 
on that day he put those isles in charge of men who do not 
bear arms, but hold posts like the posts of those who rule 
in our own land. Much, too, has been done in the Phil- 
ip-pines for health and for schools. 

The home life of Pres-i-dent Roose-velt at Oy-ster Bay, 
Long Is-land, is full of glad life. Mrs. Roose-velt is there, 
and Alice, E-thel, "Tedd-y," Jr., Ker-mit, Ar-chie, Ouin- 
tin, and scores of pets. Friends come from far and near, 
and, in the warm months, life goes on in a way to please 
all. The cool months of the year find the Roose-velts at 
the White House, Wash-ing-ton, where the Pres-i-dent 
gives his time and thought to all the needs of the land. 

Through all the life of The-o-dore Roose-velt naught 
has been found but good. His aims are high. He stands, 
talks, and works for what seems to him to be for the best 
good of this land. 



VV^^* 



